Can't Take My Eyes Off You
by bones-angel
Summary: -KakaSaku- They're learning to cross lines... with the help of their overeager friends who team up to see to it that they do cross the final line to become ... more than friends.
1. A Blind Date

**A/N: R&R please... btw, this is based on a prompt - a blind date. might have a collection of it, say 19 more stories? we'll see.  
Disclaimer: Naruto and other related characters are not mine. FAN-fiction, dude. and it stays that way.**

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**Chapter 1: A Blind Date**

She took out the short, red dress she had bought. Her viridian eyes took in the delicate flowers printed on the dress, wistfully rubbing the fabric between her fingers as her mind wandered off to the event that would require her to wear it. She had bought the dress upon the subtle suggestions of her well-meaning gray-haired sensei. She bit her lip. Somehow, the word 'sensei' did not seem suitable for him anymore. Kakashi-sensei, or should it just be Kakashi? She bit her bottom lip. Her mind was drifting off dangerously close to him. They were no longer connected by the student-teacher relationship anymore. In fact, she pondered further, it was more of a senior-junior relationship. Her intensive training with Tsunade-shishou had been very fruitful when she became a chuunin. She merely had to train harder and take the next level's examinations to be jounin – the same rank as Kakashi. Perhaps she should just call him Kakashi-kun? It sounded just right. With that finally settled in her ever busy mind, she turned her thoughts back to the problem at hand.

It was Ino's idea – to get herself a date and going to the party. She would rather go with Naruto or Sasuke, that is, if they were available in the first place. Unfortunately for her, they would rather date each other. It was that obvious. Funnily enough, years of being a missing-nin had certainly changed Sasuke's view regarding his friendship with Naruto. Naruto was only too happy to accept Sasuke back into the fold to notice the former's changed attitude towards him. It was amazing how dense Naruto could be when it came to reading body language and the signals one can exude. Her own childish infatuations for Sasuke had somewhat watered down to love meant for friends, perhaps to only love him as a brother.

She sighed. Her problem was still there. She had no date. Well, it was no one she knew. Her friend's attempts at setting her up with Lee were infuriating, though it provided much amusement to her friends. At least Kakashi was on her side. He had helped her escape several of Lee's more persuasive advances, though it meant that she was again and again stuck at footing the bill for her sensei. No, he wasn't her sensei anymore, she told herself as she shook her head gently. She certainly hoped that Ino was not being her usual humorless pig-self by setting her up with Lee. If she did… Sakura grinned wickedly. She would pay dearly.

She glanced at the clock. It was late. Great, now Kakashi's habit was growing on her. With a flurry of movement, she dressed up as fast as she could. Her make up was minimal, as she did not want to draw unwanted attention upon herself with thick make up. Without another glance towards the clock, she rushed off to the Inuzukas'. Her hair had been done up in a tight bun, but now loose strains strayed down her cheeks. At least it wouldn't look like she had put too much effort into looking good. If Ino's taste in men for her were any indication, she did not want to let him on with thinking she was looking especially nice for him.

She stopped at the front door. The music was loud but did not drown out the noise of the festivities going on inside. Her heart beat faster and she now half-wished that she had not agreed to come.

"Hello there, Sakura-chan." A deep, masculine voice greeted her from behind.

She turned swiftly, her fingers nervously adjusting the hem of the skirt. It was him. He looked especially amused now, watching her staring at him in a stunned manner. He chuckled.

"Ne… Sakura-chan, are you really going to wear that?"

"Kakashi-sensei! You're early!" She exclaimed softly, her voice clearly showing her ill-disguised shock.

"Aa? Early?" He scratched the back of his head. "I thought I was late… Didn't you say to come at 7? It's already 7.30 my dear Sakura-chan." He let out a nervous chuckle.

He had found it very amusing, exhilarating and also touched to see her wearing the dress he had chosen for her. He never would have thought that she would buy it, let alone wear it when he had suggested it about two days ago. She had practically dragged him to the boutique to get herself a dress to Kiba's birthday party. He found out it was Ino's brilliant idea of getting her friend laid, he frowned at the reminder, and perhaps see her friend occupied with someone instead of her medic nin duties. He himself would love to see her happy with a special somebody, if it weren't for his sudden streaks of possessiveness that usually crept up when he saw her with a date. Tonight was no different. Ino was setting her up with someone, and he did not protest although he had tried coaxing Sakura to get someone she knew as an escort – namely, him. She didn't take the hint though.

He sighed softly.

"Kakashi-sensei, you think this looks horrible on me, don't you?" A timid voice broke his chain of thoughts.

Well, she looked ethereal in her sakura-patterned dress. It ended just a few inches above her knees, exposing her flawless and endless legs. His lone eye moved up slowly, savoring the view before him. The dress clung close to her womanly curves, though it was not too tight for comfort. Her bare shoulders were tempting him to touch and he forced himself to stop there. Tempting? Sakura? He swallowed his saliva, hoping dearly he had not drooled.

"Ne… Sakura-chan… I thought I told you to call me Kakashi?" His eye crinkled.

"Kakashi, what do you think? Did I just ruin it?" She asked nervously.

"No…" He shook his head. "You look…" He scratched the back of his head. Should he say it? "Sexy."

Her eyes widened in shock as her blush crept up to her cheeks. It was embarrassing enough for her to wear such a revealing dress, without Kakashi making it worse by calling her sexy. Was he making fun of her? She gazed at him intently. He seemed sincere, amidst the nervous chuckle. Somehow, she could not shake off the feeling of nervousness around him in that dress. There was also the unmistakable tingly feeling she got from seeing him in that marvelous suit. He looked… delicious. The door flew open, timely stopping her thoughts from marveling silently at her sensei.

"There you are Sakura! What made you so late??" Ino yelled above the noise as she opened the door.

"I well… I …" She was at lost for words, though that did not stop Ino from shoving a tall, tanned man towards her.

"Here, this is Kaneshi. He's a family friend traveling from another village." Ino beamed at him and turned to Sakura.

"Enjoy yourselves you two… Oh!" Apparently she had caught sight of Kakashi, who was faking another smile – though only Sakura knew it. Sakura smiled apologetically at him, but was unable to wish him luck with Ino when a large hand encircled itself around her delicate wrist.

Kaneshi wasted no time in pulling Sakura by the hand into the party scene. He smelled … Atrocious. She would even prefer one of Kakashi's sake-and-sweat-and-blood-combo smells to THIS. She fought hard not to scrunch up her nose at him. That was one point down for Kaneshi. Another point down for his breath to stink heavily of sake. She turned back to see Kakashi pushing past Ino lazily with a dismissive wave at the furious blonde. He sat within her viewing range and took out his offending, little orange book.

She rolled her eyes. Great. There goes her guardian. She turned her eyes towards Kaneshi, who was now pushing through the crowd to get to the dance floor. Oh no. The evening was indeed getting worst.

"Let's dance," he slurred.

She smiled forcefully and painfully as his hand gripped her waist tightly. As the song wore on, their uncomfortable distance grew even more disconcerting – for both Sakura and the man in the corner who was watching her albeit his feigned reading. Kaneshi seemed to have a lot of nerve to pull her closer. He was a good head taller than her and was unabashedly staring down her cleavage as he kept on stepping on her toes. Her well pedicure toes. His points had reduced by a demeaning five points by now.

"Ahem." The two dancers turned to the person. "Hello, Sakura, would you like to dance with me?" It was Kakashi. She looked relieved, delighted and positively ready to throw her arms around his neck when her date spoke up.

"She's my date, old man. Get your own." He growled and pushed Kakashi roughly in the chest. She bit her lip. It was one thing to call him an old man, and another to manhandle him when he had been very courteous. With just a blink of an eye, Kaneshi shot through the roof – clutching his bottom, screaming in pain and his eyes bulging. _One Thousand Years Of Pain_. That was his and her favorite technique when it came to warding off unwanted suitors.

Everyone's eyes riveted swiftly to the smiling duo, some were rolling their eyes and some were giggling. Apparently, no one thought much of Kaneshi – thanks to his very courteous manners tonight.

"So, Sakura-chan, shall we now?" He turned to her, smiling warmly under his mask.

"Of course, Kakashi-sensei. My pleasure," she added sincerely.

"Ah… Didn't I tell you not to call me sensei? Kakashi is absolutely fine."

"Kakashi-kun?"

"Perfect."


	2. A Game of Tag

**A/N: Please read and review, thanks!  
Disclaimer: Obviously, these Naruto characters, my beloved Kakashi and Sakura are... sadly, not mine.**

_To Winz, Mystic Spirit Angel, crazyevilgirl, and poppies in july - thanks so much. Y here's chapter 2._

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**Chapter 2: A Game Of Tag**

"Kakashi!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, her arms held stiffly to her sides with her fist clenched tight. It was lunchtime, and he was not being much of a help either – with his mischievous ways of getting her attention.

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" She could almost hear the laughter in his voice. How dare he?

She whirled round, her balled-up fist swinging in his direction. But it merely punched the air as he avoided her attack swiftly.

"Come. Back. Here. NOW!" She yelled at him despite her lack of food.

But he was nowhere to be seen. She could not sense his chakra at all within her vicinity. He would not have left her that way, she knew that. At worst, he was probably blocking her from sensing his chakra, and was now sitting up on a tree branch. She took a deep breath. Perhaps it was good training for her anger management – though her rumbling stomach disagreed strongly. She needed food. And fast. If he knew what was best for himself, he would be leaving her bento box somewhere nearby and speed to the nearest village and not come back for a week.

She decided to just make a deal with him. After all, the overgrown child probably wanted to have his revenge after she had been too busy to tend to him last week. She sighed. He certainly was being childish now. Perhaps she should not have forfeited his afternoon trainings for patching up a certain womanizing ninja. His pride was probably dented.

She sat on the soft grass, her voice had gone soft now.

"Kakashi-kun, let's play tag, shall we? If I tag you, you'll give me back my bento box. Ok?"

Not a reply. She heaved a soft sigh. "I'll share with you too…? Please…?" She added pleadingly.

Still, there was no reply. She began to doubt that he was there. Nevertheless, she continued bargaining even though she was more confident now that he was not there.

"I'll feed you even… I just want to eat." She was near tears now, though she fought hard to keep them at bay. She was not going to win this with her tears. No way.

"Hm? Feed me?" Her downcast eyes saw his familiar legs, but did not look up at him. She merely nodded.

"Are you crying, Sakura?" His voice lowered, almost whispering as he knelt down to her height. He swallowed his saliva quietly. Had he gone too far?

"No, I'm not. I'm fine… just hungry," she finished meekly. Her large, innocent eyes finally looked up at him – almost pleading him to surrender her lunch. He seemed hesitant.

He was beginning to think it would be a good idea to surrender the bento box right then and just keep quiet. After all, he could not bear the thought or even the sight of her hot tears trickling down those smooth cheeks. He sighed. Perhaps he should have surrendered earlier? A sudden tap on his head startled him out of his thoughts.

"Hn?"

"You're tagged!" She grinned happily. "Can I have my lunch now?"

"That was downright cheating Sakura-chan!" He chuckled, handing her the box. As she made a grab for it, he withdrew his hand. "You did remember the deal, didn't you?"

"Deal? What deal, Kaka-kun?" Her eyes shone with amusement now.

"Feeding me?"

"There was no deal, as I recall, Kaka-kun…" She drawled.

"Don't do that Saku-chan… as I recall as well, you too have no deal." He grinned wickedly. Two can play the same game.

"Oh. That… deal…" She acquiesced reluctantly – he noticed. "Okay… are you sure you want me to feed you?"

"Of course. What could be more romantic?" He chortled, knowing how embarrassing such a comment would be for her. As he looked at her, he knew he was right. Her cheeks were of a pinkish hue now, her eyes gazing at his feet in an unusual interest – completely embarrassed to silence. He too could not believe such a comment would escape his lips, but he simply could not resist. The timing was screaming for it.

"Ne… Sakura-chan, you want your lunch back, right? I'm hungry too, you know…" He chuckled some more.

Her viridian eyes looked up at him with innocence, staring at him. He handed her the box and wasted no time in sitting across her. "Are you ready Sakura-chan?"

"Of course, Kakashi-kun. Here you go!" She had quickly opened the cover and scooped some of her rice and vegetable after he handed her the box.

His eyes widened in delight as he savored her home-cooked dish. "Delicious!"

"Really?"

"Yes, of course. You're a wonderful cook, Sakura-chan!"

Another appreciative blush. "Thank you, Kakashi."

"Here, let me feed you."

Before she could protest, he had taken the box and spoon away from her swiftly and the chicken-meat-and-rice-filled spoon awaited her patiently. She opened her mouth and felt the food pushed gently into her mouth. He was very gentle, she noted subconsciously, and considerate too. It felt good just to sit there in front of him, feeding him and also being fed. In fact, it went beyond feeling good. It gave her an adrenaline rush, and filled her with such warmth that she was sorely tempted to reach out and kiss him. She blushed when she realized what she was thinking.

He peered lazily at her, secretly wondering why she was blushing. "Are you all right, Sakura?"

"Yes… I'm fine," she replied softly.

It was the first time they had shared a lunch together and it was the first time for both to have fed each other. To both, it was a very much welcomed and warmly accepted first time experience. Both were considering provoking each other in a not-so-subtle manner to subtly have the other surrender to another feeding time. They kept the silence, both turning the scheming cog wheels relentlessly in their minds.


	3. A Broken Ankle

**A/N: As usual, please R&R, thanks!  
Disclaimer: Character are not mine - none at all. I just love bestowing pain upon Genma, that's all.  
**_Mystic Spirit Angel, loverofallthingschocolate - thanks for the encouragement!_

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**Chapter 3: A Broken Ankle**

Nobody knew what exactly happened - the onlookers could only remember an obnoxiously loud yelp of pain and the familiar figure on his back on the wooden floor of the pub. In fact, the said figure was apparently undecided as to whether his now broken nose was more in pain or his broken ankle. Both brought excruciating pain beyond any jutsu he had known - and that included Kakashi's notorious and recently frequent 'One Thousand Year's of Pain' of which he had become a regular recipient.

At the thought of Copy Nin, the senbon chewing ninja now turned to the rather nonchalant figure still seated at their table. He had not even bothered to look up from his wretched orange book since Genma plucked his brazen courage to trip the pleasantly-endowed pink-haired kunoichi. He had only wanted a glimpse of her panties, just to fulfill his fantasy of the day. Unfortunately, he had only to lift the hem of the skirt that she wore about a fraction of an inch higher when the next thing he saw was his own blood smeared all over his face.

On top of that, he found out that his ankle was mysteriously broken. He looked round furiously, daring the onlookers to sneer or jeer at him as he attempted to pin the culprit down. No one looked guilty enough for him to blame. He did not care for the formerly-fuming-now-smirking kunoichi who stared down at him with certain smugness in her aura. She had merely doled out a chakra-enhanced punch for his nose, knocking the wind out of him immediately.

The said kunoichi could not be bothered with an apology nor would she care to linger around longer to hear him stutter out an apology. She went off without a single backward glance and took her seat next to a guffawing Naruto. The whole group had first gasped in shock, and then erupted in laughter when they realized what had occurred.

Picking himself up with much effort, Genma hobbled to his table where the gray-haired ninja sat. He seated himself albeit difficultly, grimacing as he did so. His so-called friend took only a momentary glance at his injuries with that infuriatingly languid gaze before turning back to his novel.

"Ne... Genma, you outdid yourself this time," he commented monotonously - though there was a derisive amusement laced in his tone.

"I just wanted a peek!" He growled back, massaging the now bulging ankle. "Some bastard took the opportunity to break my ankle!"

"Oh?" A lifted eyebrow, but not a single glance was spared.

Nevertheless, he continued. "Sakura merely punched me, aimed for my face." He grunted as he hit a painful spot. "But that bloody bastard clearly thought it wasn't enough." He broke his gaze at the back of the said kunoichi and turned to his friend. "You know anything about this?"

"Should I?" Came the blasé response.

"Bastard." He growled. "She's your favorite student, no?" His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"So?" A smile formed beneath the mask, and he turned to meet the narrowed eyes with a lone gleaming eye.

"You don't happen to have had _anything_ to do with my broken ankle, did you now... Kakashi-_sensei_?" Genma had now adopted a very deceptive sweet but intermingled with murderous intent tone.

"Why would I?" An eyebrow lifted. He suppressed an overwhelming urge to chortle at his friend. He had been the one who invited the trouble after all.

"She's your student," he snarled.

"_Was_ being the operative word here, ne Genma?"

"Was? What are you trying to say? _You don't care_?" His pitch reached a note higher.

"Should I?" He chuckled. "As you have so clearly er... experienced, she is rather capable of defending her honor, don't you agree?" Of course, a little extra help from Kakashi from time to time whenever he was around to do so would definitely be appreciated - if she had known.

He snorted, incensed with the man's sense of humor now. "She's capable, all right. But I think it's overreaction," he added through clenched teeth.

"Overreaction?"

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like we don't flirt now and then." He shrugged in an unperturbed manner, unknowingly tottering into dangerous waters with his companion now. "I don't see any harm in being publicly affectionate with her. Especially when those gorgeous buns of hers are screaming for me to touch," he added as he licked his lips, unaware that his voice was just loud enough to reach the table where the subject of their discussion was seated.

With another fuzzy flash, the already injured jounin was sprawled on the floor face down this time. He felt throbbing and agonizing pain in his nose, both his ankles and his stomach. What the hell?

Apparently, he had been generously dealt with another chakra-laden kick to the stomach and somehow, again, his left ankle was now broken. He heard a very audible sigh as he felt himself being picked up with a tightening grip on the neck. Sakura had a homicidal gleam in her eyes and even in her voice when she spoke this time.

"Let's go to the hospital, Genma. I'll _personally_ fix you up there."

She had only taken a step forward when his friend came to the rescue. Genma heaved a relieved sigh. "Kakashi! Thanks..." He faltered when he realized that his friend had no intention of relieving him of the impending torture.

"Hello, Sakura." The corners of his eyes creased as he held up his hand in greeting.

"Hello, Kakashi," she greeted softly. Her heart softened at the sight of her ex-sensei.

"I'll help you with that load, if you don't mind," he offered kindly. Both were now oblivious to the 'load' that was glaring at the two furiously, though unable to do anything with his given condition.

"Thank you."


	4. A Kidnapping

Thankies to _TrunksgirlBlaze27, loverofallthingschocolate, kaoru.mitsui,_ for your reviews on the previous chapter , thanks so much. It was all it took to get my lazy butt off the bed and write this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto... or any of the following characters. Sucks.

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**Chapter 4: A Kidnapping**

The door creaked loudly as it swung open violently. The doorknob hung out of its socket. She stepped in, numbing fear clenching her heart. It was dark and cold inside, as a foreign hollow aura hung about the room. A single flicker from the flame of a candle lit a far off room. The rest of the apartment was left in darkness, though it took a few moments before her eyes adjusted themselves to the dimness. As her eyes made use of the dim light, the occasional lightning lit up the room - revealing clothes strewn messily on the floor, books scattered on the table and bed, used plates and glasses shattered and the furniture askew haphazardly – showing varying degrees of struggle that seemed to have taken place not so long ago. The wailing wind and raindrops pelting heavily on the glass windows seemed to cry out her intense trepidation. Her eyes scanned erratically around the room, looking for a familiar figure that had graced her with its calming presence on so many times.

Her eyes finally rested on a slumped figure by the bed, its limbs at awkward angles. The headband was in its hand, clutched weakly – as though trying to tell her it had fought to the point of no return. Hot angry tears trickled down her pale cheeks as she rushed forward to the figure. She held his head fondly, in an arm as her lips trembled and struggled to form coherent talk. He moaned softly, finally realizing that she was there. Finally there – where he needed her.

"Sakura..." Her name was like an energizer that spurred his body to regain its strength as it rolled off his tongue with ease. His faint heartbeat now grew stronger in her embrace. He had rarely the opportunity to be in such close proximity to her before and now felt that it would soon become his new and perhaps, permanent addiction. Besides his Icha Icha books, he would not mind such anew addiction.

"No, don't speak... please, Kakashi, just don't..." Her shoulders heaved violently as she tried to restrain her sobs. She did not want to agitate him, though it became apparent that he was just as agitated at the sight of her. She bit her lip, anxiously trying to recollect her thoughts though it was very difficult to do when confronted with a situation like this. Especially when it came to Kakashi. Everything she did or know would come undone when her thoughts came to him. It was getting unreasonable.

"Trap..." He had to warn her, before it would become too late. She had to go. He would die just to save her. He could not afford to waste more time than he already had with her, seeing now that her life was in grave danger as long as she was distracted by his condition.

"What?" She spun around immediately, but it was too late. She felt something sharp and very thin, perhaps a senbon pierce her neck. The drug was efficient in its reaction time, coursing through her veins speedily. Her lids became heavy, her limbs weakened and she slumped forward with her head on his chest. Her hearing was the last to go, though her drug-addled mind could not comprehend the exchange between Kakashi and the strangers.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" His hard tone belying the anger he fought back within him. His Sharingan was deactivated as a result of being shot with some very powerful bloodline limiter drug.

"Ne, Kakashi-sempai. Do not deny that you enjoy having your lovely," the speaker paused to lick his lips as his lecherous eyes strayed towards her legs, "friend all over you like this."

He would have blushed and hoped fervently that Sakura in her unconsciousness did not hear his heart beating wildly if the situation was not as life threatening. He admonished himself almost immediately. It certainly was ill-timing to think of such thoughts. He would rather save it for another day to revel in his private and perverted thoughts of her.

"What do you want?" He growled.

There was no reply this time. He watched Sakura being blindfolded and slung over the shoulder of the speaker. Another figure emerged from the shadows and proceeded to blindfold him as well. He felt himself being lifted up and hauled over the shoulder as well, noting the fact that his kidnappers were very strong physically, besides having such sly and conniving intelligence that rivaled Kakashi's own.

"Where are we going?"

His question was merely met with cackles of laughter. He slowly slipped into unconsciousness again, feeling the raindrops on his skin as the chilly wind sent him shivers. The drug had been slow in reacting with his bodily fluids in the beginning, but had now begun to surge within him. It was taking effect rather well. He shivered involuntarily.

"Cold much?" It was the last thing he heard before passing out into a black world.

Her eyes fluttered open, brushing against a rough texture that stung her. She shut her eyes again, realizing that she was blindfolded. Her hands were tied to the back. She wrenched her binds roughly, hoping against hope it would come undone but it was too tight. Her hands began feeling around, trying to feel their way through the darkness that gripped her at the moment. They groped around until one of her hands rested on a very warm and soft spot. Warmth meant there was somebody with her. She squeezed harder, eliciting a sharp intake of breath and a low moan from her 'companion'.

"Who is it?" She whispered hoarsely, her hand still holding the 'spot'.

"Sakura," she heard her name called in a familiar voice, though it sounded as though Kakashi was speaking through gritted teeth, "get your hands off my privates."

Her hands withdrew in a split second, as blood rushed up to her neck and cheeks furiously. "Sorry."

"It's okay. My pleasure," he added with a tinge of cheekiness. He had long ago awakened from his drug-induced slumber and had come to the conclusion that they were alone. He could not feel any chakra nearby, nor had he heard any sounds that would betray the enemies to them. At least it was safe enough to lighten the tension between the two of them.

She decided to ignore him on that remark, as the situation did not seem to favor them. "What's going on, Kakashi?"

"I have no idea," he answered gruffly, still trying to fight off the blush that threatened to color his pale cheeks. He was still a little bewildered at Sakura's earlier actions and was going through the denial phase that he actually enjoyed the sensations she sent into him. He struggled with his ropes before realizing that it was only in vain. "Somebody had better take these binds off me before I cut them with chakra."

Something clicked. They looked up, though unsure of where the sound had come from. Someone giggled, then another, and another before it seemed as though the whole place erupted in wholesome laughter. Kakashi and Sakura frowned, suspecting the worst to come. The laughter died down eventually before the atmosphere stilled once again. There was a rustle of leaves and some snapping of twigs before they both felt a presence in front of them. They struggled harder against their bindings, itching to get into battle mode and strangle whomever it was that stood near them now.

They felt the ropes loosened and they yanked down their blindfolds. Their eyes widened in bewilderment at the sight before their eyes. It was as though everyone that they knew was there, even the Sand siblings were joining in the 'fun'. Their friends were thoroughly amused, especially at the groping episode and could not contain their glee at the expense of the two almost fearsome and untouchable ninjas. They were well known for what damage their tempers could dispense out at times, especially at times like this.

"Ne, Kakashi... Sakura's got a fine touch, doesn't she?" Their heads turned swiftly, almost mechanically to the brown-haired jounin, the blush on their faces now evident. Their eyes fastened on him, narrowing into tiny slits as they did so.

"Genma..." Kakashi drawled menacingly as he stood up. He offered a hand to Sakura and pulled her up as she took it. She gave his hand a brief squeeze as a sign of gratitude, and perhaps encouragement to proceed with his very transparent plan of teaching Genma a lesson or two on subtlety. He squeezed back before releasing, albeit reluctantly.

"What?" The senbon-wielder grinned in amusement before pointing an accusing finger to a certain blonde that now cowered behind Sasuke. "It was his idea." His eyebrows shot up in emphasis.

A pair of beryl eyes and a pair of mismatched eyes attempted to burn fiery holes into Sasuke, oblivious to everyone else's maniacal grins plastered on their faces. If looks could kill, Naruto would have been cremated after dropping dead from the glowering scowls they dished out to him. Sasuke would be dead as well, from unwittingly shielding the mischievous blonde.

Sensing that it was the perfect opportunity to escape before all hell was unleashed, a certain gray-haired toad Sannin tried to slink off into the crowd, only to be obstructed by a strong grip on his arm. The fingers were very, very familiar though he knew that it had never, ever touched him before. He turned.

"Jiraiya-sama! I know you're his partner too!" Sakura jerked a finger at said blonde's direction, now helplessly clutched in a death-grip of Kakashi's.

The Sannin and his apprentice exchanged knowing looks and gulped. They heaved a sigh of relief, however, as the chokeholds slackened when Genma cleared his throat. The two would-be murderers cast their death-glares in his direction, momentarily stopping his thinking. After regaining his composure, he snapped his fingers in signal.

"Happy birthday, Sakura," The crowd chorused.


	5. A Birthday

A/N: Do enjoy the next piece tell me what you think. I'll be taking a break to recover some imagination for the future chapters. I won't be long, perhaps a week -tops.  
_TrunksgirlBlaze27, loverofallthingschocolate, Rangerette, penginyasha, kaoru.mitsui_ - thanks for your reviews and your encouraging support!  
_Rangerette, Slyth, TrunksgirlBlaze27, i-don't-have-a-name, kaking, kaoru.mitsui - _thanks for putting this story on alert!  
_EireVerde, loverofallthingschocolate_ - thanks so much for putting me on alert!

Disclaimer: Naruto and co do not belong to me.

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**Chapter 5: A Birthday**

"Hey Kakashi-kun," she greeted him with a sweet lilt in her voice. He turned to give her a brief glance before resuming his current occupation. Her footsteps were light and graceful, he noted as he absent-mindedly flipped the page, and her voice had a dulcet ring in it that was easy on the ear – his ears, to be exact. Her footsteps grew louder and he could feel her approaching.

"It's so dark out here, and you're reading?" She glanced back and forth incredulously between his book and his masked face.

She had come looking for him after realizing that he had gone missing from the party that was being held not so far from the lake. After much teasing and ribbing received for her earlier and accidental 'misconduct', she was able to enjoy herself enough while entertaining her friends who brought her birthday party to life. The jounin friends of the companion that she was seeking now were merciless to both of them as they spat out innuendo after innuendo, causing her to go beet red that she felt sure it would combust in flames anytime soon.

"Aa…"

It was not the right time to read, since it was too dark, but he had had just about enough repartee with his friends about Sakura. It had come to the point where he decided that he had to get away before his already perverted mind became even contaminated with Genma's corrupted and imaginative narrative of Sakura's assets. Besides, he knew that she would have come looking for him sooner or later – though he would much prefer it to be later, when the crowd would have dwindled in number by then – and that notion led him to his current spot.

He let his visible eye, now that his tired Sharingan was covered with the hitai-ate, follow the curves of his companion's body subtly. She had filled out rather pleasantly, he observed, and displayed some sense of maturity and practicality in her dressing. Her short red skirt that overlapped a pair of short black pants had slits up her hips provided her flexibility of movement. He could not help but let an appreciative smile sneak unto his lips as he felt her leaning against his side – she exuded warmth that he welcomed very much after enduring a few chilly breezes.

She leaned closer and he understood. He pulled her closer to him, putting his free arm around her shoulders. She smiled gratefully at him, letting her gaze settle comfortably on his twinkling eye.

The first time he had pulled her into a half-embrace was when they were caught in a horrible gale during their return from a simple mission. She was reluctant at first, but then submitted when she realized that she had not enough strength to pull away from his embrace. The experience, needless to say, was uncomfortable initially, but their inhibitions soon melted away when he caressed her upper arm lightly, as though to reassure her that he could be trusted. That was the second line they had crossed, since relinquishing their formalities as student and teacher. They were friends now.

"Sakura-chan?" His little book was now on the ground.

"Hmm?" She broke away from her inner musings to refocus on him.

"Where are our two wonderful friends?" A devilish smirk appeared on his face, his eye gleaming roguishly as he pulled her closer until she could rest her head in the crook of his neck. She would have objected, considering the fact that they were not alone and such a move on their part would invoke the glee of gossipmongers and perhaps the wrath of her well-meaning friends and teacher. But she did not, and that put his apprehension at ease, though the need to know the reason behind this unusual acquiescence on her behalf nagged at his conscience. He brushed away the thought, preferring to relish the moment while he had the opportunity.

As for the two troublemakers, Sakura had insisted earlier that he should not bother to deal with them or even knock some sense into their stubborn, conniving minds. He, as she put it, deserved to relax and enjoy his time at her surprise party while she took care of the matter. He had probably made his doubts obvious that she beamed at him with uncommon cheerfulness that made him suspect certain underhanded and perhaps, entertaining business that would be dealt onto them. He would not put it past her to make use of her new found subtlety that she had gained from him on the duo that were now, he mused, enjoying their last scraps of dinner and sake before the culminating moment. At least she was kind enough to wait.

"Oh, hanging around," she replied nonchalantly as she snuggled closer, inhaling his pleasing masculine scent that she enjoyed very much. His smell was very distinct and very, very easy on her nose. She could not quite put a finger on it, but felt almost sure that he used a similar soap that she did. Perhaps he preferred grapes to strawberry but the hint of jasmine blended nicely together with the scent of the familiar cherry blossom. Though the fragrance was feminine, his cologne certainly added a nice masculine touch.

He lifted an eyebrow, showing his disbelief. Sakura had learnt the art of understatement after being in his company for a while. It amused him to hear her sometimes, and he often chuckled at her understated comments for she pulled it off rather charmingly and with the right amount of nonchalance. "Whereabouts?"

She gestured lazily towards the trees not far from where they were. He turned his gaze and focused his eye on two very familiar figures wrapped in their own cocoons, hanging from a very high branch of a tall, sturdy tree. The said figures swung around as much as they could, hoping to crash into the trunk of the tree and perhaps fall off like an acorn. He chuckled, softly. If they were much nearer, he would no doubt hear their strings of curses flowing with ease off their tongue. From his distance, he could see only glimpses of blond and gray bangs sticking out of their cocoons, only certifying the assumption that they could not make louder noises than muffled yells.

"Was it your idea?" He cast his eyes towards her.

"I had Sasuke and Tsunade pitching in," she replied softly. His voice had a nice, deep rumbling to it, she thought, and it was mellow enough to be a soothing lullaby for her. She snuck her hands into his jounin vest, trying to catch some of his warmth. She rested her right hand on his chest as the other hand clutched his vest from the inside. His eyes widened in surprise in her apparent lack of reservations. It was only for a while though, and he lifted her quickly to move her between his legs. It would be more comfortable for the both of them now.

"Oh?"

"Mm."

She closed her eyes, too lost in the coziness and security that he had wrapped her in. She cast all her worries and cares to the wind, opting instead to savor the moment as it was. She longed to be wrapped up like this for as long as she could, even forever if time would allow her. Unbeknownst to her, her protector was currently swimming in a torrent flooding of emotions. He was unsure of his stand, now that the second line they crossed had evolved into something much more intimate such as this. He too, though he did not know it himself, was feeling the realization of his longing to embrace her with such intimacy and familiarity and security that he knew she needed. She stirred slightly, distracting him from his inner musings.

"Kakashi-kun?" Her gentle voice crooned his name with affection.

"Yes?"

"Sing for me?"


	6. A Serenade

A/N: Song lyrics are in italics. Kakashi will be singing the parts in bold, since the lyrics are in romaji and he's Japanese after all. I also put the English translations after the Japanese lyrics, for your convenience, and also to understand the story.  
Song credits:- Title: Beautiful Dreamer, Lyrics: Mai Isanai & Utamaru, Music: Yanagiman, Artiste: Sowelo  
Thanks to: _Pretzel451, kaoru.mitsui, TrunksgirlBlaze27, loverofallthingschocolate, Rangerette, DarkAngelXF, andy-may, DragonfireXAgent_ for your support!!  
Disclaimer:

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**Chapter 6: A Serenade**

Sing? Him? Hatake Kakashi, Legendary Copy Nin, Master of a Thousand Jutsu – sing? He felt his heart thump faster. The monosyllable word held him paralyzed with his body turning rigid. His normally ingenious mind was now thrown into the throes of bewilderment. The blood drained from his face and for that, he thanked the Kami-sama for pulling over such a dark canvas over the skies that night. Her normally perceptive mind would have caught on to his sudden shortness of breath, the pale tone of his face and the weak, clammy hands that were wrapped around her shoulders – if she was not so caught up with his pleasant smell so much. She, he thanked his lucky stars, was too busy being comfortable in his slackening cuddling to notice how much damage her simple request had bestowed upon his already frail nerves.

He cleared his throat forcefully, swallowing his saliva to moisten his throat before refusing, "No. I won't." He subconsciously braced himself for her possible reactions – perhaps sobbing pitifully to work up his fragile conscience or her wildcat anger, whichever would come first.

There was a muffled grunt. A grunt that conveyed to him all he needed to know about how she felt at the moment. She was not pleased, though she would not overreact. He let out an exasperated sigh. She was not going to let him off without a hitch on this one. Perhaps there could be other ways he would be able to make to her? His single eye wandered down to look at pink-haired kunoichi. His breath hitched fleetingly as he felt her sharp nails digging themselves into his chest. He let out another sigh. She definitely was not going to take no for an answer. He might as well search his memories for a good song. His eye still trained on her, his mind ambled carelessly to sentimental love songs. Would she like them? After all, she was not the melancholic type and his normal choice of tragic war songs would probably put her off – on her birthday, no less.

He breathed in deeply as his voice was about to break into a soulful song. He stopped short of his intentions, however. His eyebrows lifted when he realized that she was repositioning herself. Her hands were now resting on her lap as her eyes shone brightly at him. He broke into nervous sweat. His palms were now moist with perspiration – he could feel his gloves sticking to his skin uncomfortably. Did she really have to do this? To watch him as he fulfilled her request to serenade her? She did not say anything, but merely gave his hands the encouraging squeeze she thought he needed. He broke his gaze and fastened his attention to her hands now on top of his. She was not about to move it away, he realized, though it did not bother him. He removed his hands from under hers and clasped both her hands in his.

Her eyes widened at his unexpected actions though she soon calmed down, knowing that she would get what she wanted from him soon. His eye now turned back to look into her gleaming ones. She wondered if he actually felt nervous or even scared at this first time solo performance – just for her. She smiled, hoping to coax him into a song soon enough before the enchantment broke.

Taking her smile as cue and perhaps the unknown comfort he had sought after, he began his song. He had finally settled upon a perfect choice. His voice deepened as he softly crooned,

"**_Asa ga kureba samete shimau yume nara  
Yoru ni nareba mata wasurete shimau deshou  
Kinou koko de hohoen deta anata no  
Kaori nukumori ima watashi ni nokotteru_**

_If morning comes, and I awake from this dream?  
I'll probably forget about this at night  
Yesterday, I smiled when I was in your room  
Your smell and warmth, they stayed with me_

Her eyes widened slightly, hiding her perplexity at his choice of song. It was a love song. She had not expected this from him and had, instead, anticipated a sad war song. Her smile widened though, as her ears began accustomed to his mellow voice.

_**Mou mayowa nai mou kowaku nai  
Toomawari shita kedo  
Aruki daseru wakari auru  
Sonna kimochi sae  
Kotoba ni shita dakedo kako ni naru kara**_

_I'm no longer lost, no longer scared  
But I've been derailed  
But I know that I have to keep walking  
Even though I feel like this,  
Because of your words, it's still in the past_

She leaned closer subconsciously, anticipating the next verse. Her hands were now held tightly by the older ninja.

**_Saa sobani kite nemuri wo yabutte  
Kono te de furesasete tashika metai  
Mabuta tojite machi tsuduketeru_**

_When I'm by your side, I sleep so well  
Make sure you touch my hands  
I close my eyes, and continue to wait_

He closed his eyes, as he felt his emotions had begun seeping through the song. He had missed her flushed cheeks when he sang about her touching his hands. It was more than touching now.

_**Isoga nai de ano egao misete  
Futari no ashita wo shinjite tai  
Dakara ima wa yume dake wo miteru**_

_Don't hurry, let me see your smiling face  
I want to believe in our future  
But for now, I just want to dream about it_

He opened his eyes slowly, his lips curving into a smile when he caught her shy smile. The song was really getting to him now. But he let it past though, it would be a crime to break their reverie.

_**Toki ga tateba narete shimau itami demo  
Watashi, kitto tamera wazuni tobi komeru**_

_Even when I rest, I'm accustomed to pain  
Surely, I can fly if I don't hesitate_

Even in his mesmerized state, he could still understand the words that came out of his mouth and he felt his cheeks warming up. She did not giggle when she noticed his cheeks flushed though, unwilling to break the invisible bond that had formed between them now. She knew full well what his words meant, even though it was just a song.

**_Beautiful dreamer osanai koro  
MAMA ga kikasete kureta  
Otogi banashi niji no tsuzuki wasurete ta hitomi  
Omoi de saseta wake oshiete hoshii_**

_Beautiful dreamer, when I was young  
I could hear my mother's fairytales  
And I never forgot the rainbow in her eyes  
Please tell me why I remember these things_

She blushed when he called her a beautiful dreamer. His hand had freed itself, and lifted up to her cheek to stroke it gently when he sang those words. There was now a wistful look in his eyes, and he knew that she noticed it. He continued, ignoring the effect of his words on her. The song was too beautiful to let him stop midway.

_**Jikan tomete kokyuu wo chigitte  
Anata no yari kata wo kami shimetai  
Kokoro hiraki machi tsuzuketeru**_

_Time stops and my breath is cut off  
I understand how you do things now  
My heart opens, and I continue to wait_

He stopped stroking her cheeks and pulled her closer to him instinctively, blissfully ignoring the implications of his actions. She did not object, instead, she maintained their eye contact. His hands now rested on her waist, and she found that she did not mind at all. It felt as though his hands belonged there, they both noted.

**_Aseranaide ano koe kikasete  
Futari no netsu dake kanjitetai  
Dakara ima wa yume dake wo miteru_**

_The voice speaks without any impatience  
I want to feel our warmth  
But for now, I just want to dream about it_

She smiled shyly, knowing full well that they were close enough to each other to feel the warmth that emanating. He responded with a small smile of his own, the wistfulness in his eye growing stronger.

_**Utsukushii monogatari mo owari ga aru to  
Shitte iruwa mou dakedo**_

_This beautiful story will end  
But I already understand it_

His voice almost broke when he sang it, knowing that he did not want such a beautiful story to end and realizing that though he did understand, he did not want to. His eyes almost welled up in tears, when he saw her tears had already trickled down her cheeks. Leaving a hand to rest on her waist, another hand rose to her cheeks and wiped the tears gently with his thumb.

_**Saa sobani kite nemuri wo yabutte  
Kono te de furesasete tashika metai  
Mabute tojite machi tsuzuketeru**_

_When I'm by your side, I sleep so well  
Make sure you touch my hands  
I close my eyes, and continue to wait_

His eyes widened though he did not stop singing when she flung her arms around his neck. Her head rested on his shoulders as he held her securely in his arms. She did not know why she did it, perhaps to tell him in her own timid way that she did not want the story to end. The song was really piercing through her now. She did not care, and only tightened her hold when she felt his arms wrapped her waist firmly.

_**Isoga nai de ano egao misete  
Atarashii asa wo shinjite tai  
Dakara ima wa yume dake wo miteru**_

_Don't hurry, let me see your smiling face  
I want to believe in our future  
But for now, I just want to dream about it_

She released her hold and smiled at him, not caring the fact that their noses were almost touching. She saw a smile forming on his lips, and let her smile widened.

**_Sono toki made nemuri tsuduketeru  
Watashi."_**

_And at this time, I just want to continue  
Sleeping_

The song had ended, but its words now reverberated in their minds. It was spellbinding and they each knew just how much they wanted to kiss the other. The timing was inconvenient – they chided themselves, each unaware of the other party's inner battle. The venue was also inconvenient – they berated themselves, simultaneously releasing their holds and pulling away reluctantly. He would not want her, she reminded herself dolefully. She would not want him, he reminded himself witheringly.

Unable to find a way to fill the silence, he resorted to breaking it and perhaps, giving her the birthday gift he had chosen specially for her. He cleared his throat and their eyes met again.

Her eyes peered into his own enigmatic eye, wondering what exactly would he say now. Would he question her earlier actions, and apparent abandon of judgment? She bit her lip.

Still keeping the eye contact, he pulled out an oddly shaped but neatly wrapped object from his jacket. Her eyes turned it. He held it out to her and smiled, encouraging her to take it from him.


	7. A Flute

A/n: Thanks to _Kakashi'sWife4Ever, jojojellybean, 1kenshinlover, Pretzel451, Rangerette, kaoru.mitsui_ for the support!!!! Thanks so much.  
Disclaimer: D'oh, they do not belong to me at all. Period.

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**Chapter 7: A Flute**

Her soft fingers wrapped themselves slowly around it. She scrutinized it thoroughly then looked at him once more. He was smiling.

"Go ahead, Sakura. It's your birthday present," he added softly, in an attempt to hide his pensiveness. He really was trying to stop himself from being disappointed at how things had ended by his song. A special song he had sung for her, a song that held special meaning for him, a song that had allowed him to be carefree – even if it was just for this one moment – had turned the special moment into silence with awkwardness between them.

He watched in fascination as her fingers deftly and gracefully unwrapped the gift. When it was finally stripped of its paper wrappings, she looked at it for a while, and then looked back at him in puzzlement.

"What?" He found himself asking in a choked voice. Did she not like it? It was of an exquisite pink hue, with a few bits of jade green around it. He had found it on a beach while on a mission a few months back, and thought of the perfect time to give it to her. Of course, he had a well-versed master to perfect the seashell into a flute – which played melodious songs for him while he had had it in his safekeeping. The tuneful songs that were produced reminded him so much of Sakura, of her familiarity, and of her constant presence.

She flung her arms around his neck once more and he found himself in shortness of breath. Did she always have that effect on him? Since when? He questioned himself worriedly; almost missing the quick soft peck on the cheek she gave him. His eye widened in surprise at her as she pulled back, her lips now displaying a huge grin.

"Arigatou, Kaka-kun!" She chirped in delight. The moment she got a good look at it, she knew that he chose it purely for aesthetical purposes. She could see the pink and green hues blending nicely with the overall ivory texture of the seashell. It was beautiful, to say the least. He had an exceptional good taste when it came to choosing gifts, and she admired that intriguing quality in him.

"Oh, you're welcome, Sakura," he managed to drawled out, albeit nervously. He scratched the back of his neck and laughed anxiously, anticipating her comments on his gift. Did she like it? Or love it? Most important of all, would she ever use it? He would have to find out for himself, knowing that he would not have the guts to ask her honestly anyway. "So, now's your turn."

"Huh?" She stared at him, dumbfounded. What did he expect her to do? She looked stupidly at the instrument in her hands and back at him, still gaping. "What?"

"Sing!" He chuckled. He knew her well enough that she would refuse flat out to his request. He had heard her sing before. Her voice was melodious when she talked, it was delightful when she laughed but those moments were not an indication of how her voice sounded like.

Her eyes narrowed in suspicion as she pursed her lips in annoyance. Her then melodious voice now turned edgy as she spoke, "I beg your pardon, Kakashi-sama?" She had drawn out the honorific with surliness and a tinge of menace. He knew she would not be made to sing, especially at times like this. Was he pulling her leg on this?

His eyes widened at the astonishing transformation of the sweet, sweet Sakura. He cringed when she employed the honorific. He was at the metaphoric precarious edge of the cliff now. He might as well jump into a chicken suit, considering his options at the moment. He could either repeat what he had just said, or perhaps, take the coward's route to safety by hastily denying his own brash request. After weighing the options, he decided that he could not possibly allow the young pink-haired lady wrap him around her little finger just like that. Not even with that sinister glare that even surpassed Tsunade's infamous murderous glare.

"Well, I asked you to sing, please," he added the magic word for good measure. Perhaps her heart would soften a little at the pitiful display he put on at the moment. It was simply perfect, just as how Pakkun had pulled on him. The glistening puppy-dog eyes, the faint trembling of the lips and the furrowed eyebrows – it was just as how he did it. Kakashi congratulated himself inwardly. Victory was in his grasp now.

Her eyes widened in disgust and before she could stop herself, her heavy fist landed with a resounding thud square on his face. It was simply appalling and a much worse sight to the eyes than Jiraiya's perverted face. He looked so lecherous she could not help but likened his image to the self-proclaimed pervert Sannin's already tainted image. She could only manage a soft gasp of regret when she realized what she had done.

To say he was shocked would be the greatest understatement of the year. The magic word had just lost its magic – he noted firmly that he would not pair it up with such requests in the future – it would be suicidal to use it again. The adorable puppy dog look Pakkun was famous for would have to be banned. He simply could risk getting a broken nose, especially at the moment. He took the punch with a strained grunt and instinctively raised his hand to cover his bleeding nose.

She watched his hand rise, as though they moved in a slower time frame. Her senses came back to her and with a swift push to the side, she got his hand out of the way. She took off her gloves and concentrated her green medic chakra on his nose. Her face was flushed, feeling very embarrassed as the excuses for her reckless reaction flooded her mind.

"Sakura…" She winced, feeling his confusion escaping his normally unemotional voice. She remained silent and focused on the task at hand. She deftly maneuvered her chakra around his nasal area to perfect the healing so it would not leave unwanted crooks and bends. "Why?" He croaked.

She bit her lip, undecided on whether to tell him the truth or to lie her way through the humiliation. She heaved a sigh as she let her arms fall limply and rested on his lap. She stared at flute on his lap, letting her weariness dissipate slowly as she gathered her wits. It would be wise to tell him the truth, since he would be hurt by her lies.

"Don't use that look on me again," came out instead of, "I'm sorry."

It was met with a resigned "Oh, all right." They sighed. "I'm sorry," he said softly, his eye slowly averting its intense gaze from the pink mass of hair before him to the flute.

She took a deep breath. "What I meant was," came out rather forcefully, and she vehemently toned down a little to a softer and remorseful tone, "you look like that ero-Sannin over there." She jerked her head slightly in the direction of the trees where the said Sannin now hung along with his apprentice. "When you do that face," she added quickly, still not daring to look at his face.

He did not say a word but merely looked back at her. "I do?" He asked, feeling a little revelation dawning on him now.

"Yes, you do. I'm sorry." There was a feeble tremor in her voice – which had not gone unheard by his sharp hearing. He heaved a sigh.

"Hey, it's all right. I get it now," he added with a comforting tone, his lone finger finding its way to her jaw and lifting it up slowly so she could meet his tender gaze.

It felt ticklish at first – to have a huge finger, and Kakashi's finger no less, to place itself on her chin – and she held back her breath. She did not resist, much to his relief, and her fears and humiliation melted away when her eyes searched his eye and found forgiveness. A realization now pounded in her mind, her lips curling slowly and unstoppably at the thought.

His eyebrow arched though the rest of his features remained passive. The slow smile beckoned something, though he was at a lost to figuring exactly what it was.

"You suck in making puppy dog faces, Kakashi-kun." Her mirth burst through her playful smile.

He rolled his eye and grunted in response. She had found out after all. His fingers lightly fumbled around for his book and were paralyzed when he felt her fingers intertwine with his. He held his breath, and not daring himself to look, he shut his eye. She really did have a strong effect on him.

She watched him in amusement for a brief instant and shut her eyes as she leaned forward, and closer. He smelled so good, her mind crooned in ecstasy as her lips pressed on his eyelid. She felt him stiffened then relaxed. She did not open her eyes but instinctively gravitated to his nose and kissed the tip.

Her eyes fluttered open in shock when she felt a heavy hand on her waist, pulling her closer to the warm body before her.

He, on the other hand, maintained his passive expression and leaned forward to kiss her forehead. She closed her eyes and felt his warm breath on her forehead as it gradually drew lower to level with her face. Her heart beat faster. Her eyes remained closed and tight. He kissed an eyelid, and she felt herself relaxed. He moved lower to the tip of her nose, and she felt his lips linger longer there than the other places. Was he going to suck it? The thought ran through her mind, panicking her. He did not and drew back instead.

She opened her eyes, meeting with a tender gaze of his. "Happy birthday, Sakura and many long years to you," he said with that special warm smile of his. She snuggled into his warm embrace, barely breathing out a "Thank you, Kakashi-kun," as she did so.

It was the kind of warmth they could get used to, the two shrewd minds contemplated in the snug calm between them, and more likely than ever they were going to scrounge for every passing chance to dwell in such warmth. It would be a long-term project, he noted. This would be fun, she told herself.


	8. A Meeting

A/N: Sorry for the long chapter, and so sorry it took so long to put up! I wanna thank my reviewers though, thanks for your comments! Anyways, enjoy this next piece.  
Reviewers: _Pretzel451, loverofallthingschocolate, Mystic Spirit Angel, Rangerette, anbu10, the rose has thorns, kaoru.mitsui  
_Diclaimer: Naruto is not mine. Blah blah blah...

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**Chapter 8: A Meeting**

He flinched ever so slightly at the sound of his name being brazenly called by the notorious womanizer. He stopped in his tracks, his hands clenched into fists in his pockets. He willed himself to turn around and face the brown-haired ninja. He matched the ninja's impish grin with an indolent stare of his. No doubt that his colleague had other intentions than to keep him company. The only variable was whom did he intend to charm out of her skirt this time. His fellow jounin's questionable conduct did nothing to the silver-haired jounin's reputation, as he had marred it himself whenever he blatantly took out his faithful orange companion in public.

He silently agreed to the brunette's self-invitation, though after a few minutes of walking alongside the senbon-chewing jounin, he regretted ever taking him along, especially since he was heading to the hospital at the moment.

It was almost a routine, if it might be called as such, for him to drop by the hospital whenever he got the chance. He would have usually popped around under false pretenses such as being awfully injured. Most of his wounds were actually indirectly self-inflicted injuries as a result of his casual sparring in which he would sometimes allowed his random sparring partners to catch him off guard, just to injure him one way or another. He would show up a day after with carelessly bandaged wounds and perhaps some blood would be let to seep through the bandages, when he felt the insane urge to drop by and maybe linger a little while longer than usual. It was maddening and very much eccentric to a normal person, but not for him. In fact, he found it rather amusing in spite of himself that he would go to extreme lengths just to find the pettiest of excuses to call on her even when his actions contradicted with every single notion he had held in regard to the hospital. He never liked going to the hospital; in fact, he loathed the smell and the utter whiteness of it all. He damned the sad atmosphere it radiated to him. If it weren't for the rare instances when his severe wounds from battles got the better of him, he would not have set foot into the hospital at all.

It started melting away though – the understandable dislike of hospitals – when she started spending most of her free time there. He had found it much more bearable and at times, an appealing idea to show up where she worked. She too had found it rather startling at first as the others did, but the astonishment quickly dissipated in favor of delight. He had come to depend on her for her good-natured company, as she was the only one of his teammates that he could rely on to be around. Besides, he had always looked forward to seeing her beaming smile that could light up a thousand rooms. But it was not usually the case though – that he was able to see her smile when she saw him. She was always busy with her energy-consuming work there - running around and fixing those battle-worn ninjas who lewdly, though unbeknownst to her, stare at her well-formed curves.

The current ninja who was now walking and bragging about his recent conquests happened to be one of those boorish battle-worn ninjas. He clenched his jaw tightly at the ghastly thought. He decided to call off his unexpected visit. It would not bring any good upon his lovely friend, whom he was sure to be having a hard time juggling between her work and protecting her honor. He was about to take a left turn, which would take him away from the hospital, when he felt a familiar strong hand upon his shoulder. He stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"Hey, Kakashi, I thought you were heading to the hospital?" A curious quirk of an eyebrow appeared on Genma's handsome face.

"No," He lied.

Genma's hand fell to his side and he shrugged with such airiness. "Oh well, your loss." He started to turn around, about to resume his walk. "I'll just drop by alone then and say hi to Sakura." He grinned and gave a sidelong glance at his partner. "Any messages you want me to take to her? I might be a while."

Kakashi merely grunted in response and decided to go along with his original plan.

Better to be there when Genma was going to see Sakura. After all, he could be rather charming at times and who knows that Sakura might just fall for it this time. She had been caught off-guard in the past, he grimaced, and would have been roped in for a date with the older man had he not stepped in at the last moment. Of course, he did not intervene with such openness and had instead acquired the assistance of a more daring and less subtle person – one of Genma's former one-night girlfriends. Needless to say, Sakura had left a well-placed kick in the groins before heading out of the pub with an annoyed huff. He, of course, had offered to escort her home on the pretext that she would enjoy the company and such. As for the dumped jounin, well, he still had no idea why the said ex-girlfriend had come looking for him when after all the trouble she had gone through to get him, she left him to bite the dust only a few seconds after.

Genma smirked and sauntered after him.

After Sakura's surprise birthday party the other week he had been very careful with his ways around her and her unusually temperamental former sensei. He and the other jounins had suspected that there could be some sort of a romantic aspect to their rather friendly relationship. Their suspicions were reinforced further when Kurenai confided in hushed tones that she had seen them in a rather intimate position near the edge of the forest after Sakura had dealt with Naruto and Jiraiya. Unable to believe that his silver-haired comrade would be so daring as to be seen in such a predicament, he had gone to check out the situation for himself. He stood stock-still when he heard the usually monotonous voice of Kakashi breaking out softly into a pleasantly crooned medley for the birthday girl. He was stunned to hear him sing. After all, they had all taken turns to coax, or rather blackmail, him into singing with his orange books as hostage and failed miserably. He had refused them outright on those previous episodes, and yet there he was, singing at the simple request of a pink-haired, volatile kunoichi. The man really should have been more careful about hiding his soft spot for the girl, lest he be exploited.

"So, Kakashi…" He began, and stole a fleeting look at his friend out of the corner of his eye. The man merely grunted. He continued, "What did you give Sakura?"

"The shell."

"Oh, wow. Seriously? I thought it was very important to you…" He was of course, surprised to say the least. He had seen him on various occasions, playing the flute morosely and sometimes, when push came to shove, he would guard it with his life. Just like when Naruto had found the item and attempted to make some sort of music with it but found himself staring into Kakashi's Sharingan just as he was about to blow his second note. Genma had also witnessed the rare occasion upon which Kakashi's customary blasé expression was displaced with an unfamiliar mixture of frantic and lethal look while looking for the seashell when it was found missing after their habitual night jaunts to the local pubs.

"It was for her," he explained in a crisp, curt tone.

They continued their journey in silence, as both contemplated their next move as though preparing for battle.

Genma dropped his line of inquiry and let a faint smirk play on his lips. He had observed Kakashi's intriguing albeit unusual display of hostility on the matter of his so-called platonic relationship with the pink-haired kunoichi. How Sakura had managed to push the virtually antisocial yet still amiable ninja into a surly grunting caveman, he would have loved to know. It had seemed to him that anything that was practically connected to Sakura was a subject to be discussed with utmost sensitivity. She had even managed to suppress his almost irrational loathing of the hospital. This was news to their group of jounin friends; he decided smugly to tell them later after the visit. For the moment, he would cherish the thought of an uncomfortable Kakashi trying to keep him away from his beloved cherry blossom.

Kakashi, to say the least, was feeling very much annoyed with Genma's discreet interrogation. No doubt the brunette was already piecing two and two together regarding his jealous guarding of the birthday gift prior to handing it over to its rightful owner. He could not help but frown at the memory. He should have been more inconspicuous with his now conflicting emotions, but knowing just how disappointed Sakura would be without a birthday gift from him put all thoughts of cautiousness into silence. He sighed in relief when they entered the hospital. He fingered the chocolate bar he had bought for her. She would have one of her cravings at right about now. He grinned under his mask, momentarily forgetting his companion who was now looking at him curiously before taking a different route to get to Sakura first.

"Hello, Sakura!" He exclaimed with indescribable warmth when she walked towards him. He flashed a cheerful smile, belying the sly workings of his mind at the moment. He had intentionally raised his voice to attract the attention of his dreaming companion.

Kakashi spun around at the mention of her name. Genma was uncommonly loud today, when he would usually just sidle up to Sakura and walk with her instead of greeting her as he had done just now. He quickened his pace and was soon standing next to Genma, innocently bumping the other man to other side so he could stand exactly across from her. he took out the chocolate bar, a familiar eye crease denoting his glee as he handed it out for her to take.

She squealed in delight, for a moment forgetting the presence of the other ninja. "Thank you so much, Kaka-kun!" How he loved the sound of his name being crooned so lovingly by the feisty medic-nin. "I was craving for chocolate today!"

He chuckled softly. "I know, Sakura-chan."

Genma, now an unwilling bystander instead of the irresistible charmer, merely cocked his eyebrows in incredulity. Kakashi was either in denial or they were both in it together to fool any outsiders looking into their relationship. However it were to be, he could only say that their plan was not working. Even a fool like Naruto would even realized there were some possibilities of romance in their alleged platonic relationship. His suspicions were strengthened further when the beautiful lady gave a lingering peck on the cheek of her former sensei. Heck, Kakashi was even blushing! He decided that he had seen enough. He cleared his throat and was shot down with a glare from the silver-haired jounin. He was interrupting a very cozy session.

"Sakura, I was wondering," he began, halfway rethinking his tactics before deciding to go on, "if you'd like to go out on a date with me?" He pointedly chose to ignore Kakashi burning angry holes into him with his eye.

His request had taken her by surprise. She had not expected him to meet up with her with such purpose. He even did it with Kakashi present, to top it off. He certainly would have been better off jumping from a cliff at the moment. She thought carefully about his invitation. She had her free time reserved for Kakashi and their training, besides the sporadic dinners in between. She just realized that she had used up her free time for the old man, and wondered if he would mind if she called off on one of their dinners. She looked at him expectantly, but saw his brow furrowed in a faint frown. He was clearly displeased. She decided to reconsider her stand.

Meanwhile, Kakashi's thoughts went into overdrive, thinking of one thousand and one jutsus that could finish the brown-haired pest when they walked out of the hospital. Another thought jumped in just as he was about to select one of his killer moves – would she say yes? He tried to comfort himself by reminding himself that she had all her free time booked into training with him and some free meals squeezed in between. She would remember it, wouldn't she? Then again, she could just cancel one of their times together with just a flutter of eyelashes and that dazzling smile. He would have agreed anyway. He stole a glimpse at her. She seemed deep in thought, he realized, with her tell-tale biting of the lips.

On the other hand, the third party was currently disregarded while the two of them deliberated over their thoughts and actions. He did not mind though, in fact, he quite enjoyed the silent show before him. He knew that both were considering the other's feelings and such. He decided to bide his time and wait for Sakura to make her decision. He would not beg nor rush her in her decision-making. He might as well put on a good act of gentlemanly manners while he was at it. Perhaps he might strike the pot of gold today of all days at Kakashi's expense.

"Genma-kun…" He adored the way she seemed to sing his name. Kakashi flinched. The name just did not sound right coming out of her. He wore his most unreadable expression. It was better to be restrained with his gloom. "I'd love to, but…" Her eyes cast a fleeting look at Kakashi, trying to read his inscrutable stare before turning back to Genma, "but, I've got training sessions with Kakashi and I'm pretty much busy the rest of the time." She paused, looking back and forth at the two men. "Some other time perhaps?" She offered, hoping to alleviate a little portion of the disappointment he could be feeling at the moment.

"Anytime?" Kakashi's glare intensified.

She hesitated. "Whenever possible, I guess," she finished meekly.

"Right. Well, have a pleasant day, Sakura-chan!" He gave a cheerful wave before disappearing in a puff, leaving a silently fuming Kakashi and a guilt-ridden Sakura in his wake. He had enough gossip for the day to share with his fellow jounins, and would rather stay clear of Kakashi until it was safe for him.

"Sakura…" He would have to clarify a certain things with her, and it was to be at that instant too.

She looked up, half-afraid that he would intone in displease about offering their training sessions to be replaced with a date with renowned playboy, Genma. "Yes, Kakashi?" She replied quietly.

"Come with me," he replied and took her hand in his, leading her out of the hospital.


	9. A New Law

Thank you's:  
_BlackDeath6, Kakashisgf, Nibbles the Chicken, Tonnocal, andy-may, familyguyfreak, Arukas-Guardian_ - thanks all for putting the story on alert!  
_Pretzel451, TrunksgirlBlaze27, loverofallthingschocolate, asuka02redeva, kaoru.mitsui, Rangerette_ - thanks all for your reviews and positive feedback... i was feeding on them while writing the latest chapter!

A/N: I **will not be online for two weeks starting next week** as I have my examinations coming up and I just want to focus on it. So, I will put up my next chapter, **Chapter 10** by this _coming Saturday_, if i can. I've already planned the chapters up till the 15th, so I be able to churn these chapters out fast enough. Anyways, enjoy this next piece and do give me your two cents' worth!

Disclaimer: Naruto & co - not mine. I'd probably won't return them after use, but heck, I do not make profit out of any of these. These are purely part of my mad need to have KakaSaku fluff.

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**Chapter 9: A New Law**

He relaxed his grip on her wrist, not wanting to bruise her when his emotions were beginning to endanger his self-control. He now wondered why he had brought her out in the first place, and much to his chagrin, he realized that it was because of his inability to control his infuriation. He stole a glance at her before forcing himself to look ahead.

While his senbon-chewing friend busied himself by discussing far-fetched theories regarding his relationship with Sakura, he took it upon himself to dissect the truth about his own unusual reactions.

After all, Sakura-chan was very much one of the most sought-after women in the village, what with her tremendous abilities and her unearthly beauty and such. So, why was his heart skipping beats every time he reenacted the previous scene in his mind? His mind strung fragmented thoughts together as frantically as it could so he could grasp at any plausible explanation. He was clutching at straws to justify the status of their friendship – for his own assurance. In any case, his relationship with her was just plain friendship. Sure, it was forged through harsh circumstances and capricious emotions and withstood the test of distance, time and even death. It was a complicated friendship – one so intricate that it required astounding patience on his part and her intense passion to keep it alive. Yet, they had both maintained it at a friendly level – devoid of romantic nuances. In spite of that, his reasoning and his varying degrees of logic still failed to explain his erratic heartbeat.

He really should not have minded the older man asking her out – but he did, and very much so.

Throughout their unpredictable fast-paced walk through the woods behind the hospital, Sakura had kept her silence. She frequently cast fleeting glances at him. He looked so deep in thought, perhaps reflecting on her fickle amiability towards Genma despite their tough love kind of friendship.

Her very protective friend had often warned her, rather casually though, of agreeing to any sort of outings in the company of men with dubious reputation such as Genma. He had admonished her once before – with such nonchalance that she was inclined to believe that he did not really mean it at all – when she was almost enamored by the brown-haired jounin's irresistible allure, only to find that he was really merely looking for a lady companion for the night, with no strings attached. She frowned at the memory, and her scowl softened when she remembered the events that followed. The silver-haired jounin, who was now slowing down his pace, had been caring enough to walk her home. She allowed a small smile to linger on her lips when she thought of the slight blush that crept up his cheeks after she had unexpectedly rewarded his kindness with a prolonged peck on the tip of his nose.

She turned to look at him. His grip had loosened and he had let his hand slip down to hers and entwined their fingers together. It felt just right for her – there was no inhibitions, no awkwardness and she was not even blushing at it. His hand had found its home, and hers had found warmth. Her smile widened at the double-entendre metaphor. Her eyes slowly shifted its gaze to his masked face. Even after all these years, ten years to be exact, she had only caught a glimpse of his face for a single, very brief moment. Needless to say, such a short-lived instant was not enough for her to assess even the shape of his lips, let alone how his entire face looked like when he was mask-less.

She stiffened when he turned to her, his strides now lessened in speed. He pulled her closer with the sort of gentleness she was accustomed to receiving from him. They stood about a foot apart – an uncomfortable distance for her since she was very conscious of the angry aura he seemed to radiate at the moment. She held her breath when his eye hardened its intense gaze into hers. He was really mad. Her lips quivered as she realized that she had brought it upon herself.

She should have known that her friend did not dish out romantic or dating advices without meaning it. She should have known that he took it very seriously, and not heeding him was no better than committing suicide. She just should have known, but she did not. She refused to acknowledge his concern for her well-being, and she was now hurting him. Infuriating him. Making him angry with her. It was her fault.

There. Welling up the tears in her eyes hurt her so much she decided to let it flow down instead. She was so afraid of him now.

He had felt her stiffen when he faced her. He had felt her fear when he stared down at her. He saw how her lips quivered, and he knew what was coming next. He saw how her tears formed in her eyes, making them shine so brightly and sparkly. He saw how much her tears stung her eyes that she could not hold it back anymore.

Damn them all that he saw and felt – because he could not do anything about them. His mind had gone blank the moment he dared himself to hold her hand intimately. His mind had vacated all thoughts of murdering Genma the moment he saw her eyes – her beautiful, absorbing eyes. He was so perplexed at how those beautiful orbs could mesmerize him, so much so that he did not even realize that he had induced her misinterpretation when he stared down at her with such intensity.

His free hand moved on its own accord, to her cheeks, and wiped the streams of tears gently and deliberately. He felt his head move forward and his neck strained downwards to her level. He felt his lips pursed beneath his mask, readying themselves. He felt her breath hitch. He felt her free hand move to his waist, settling there comfortably for support. He felt his masked lips brush against her forehead and lingered there. He bided his time, reluctant to move away from her ethereal aroma.

Her eyes closed shut. Her hold on his waist grew stronger. She pulled herself closer – greedy for his masculine smell, greedy for the warmth she knew only he could give her, greedy for his return embrace. Her hand, still held in his, struggled for freedom. He surrendered and let her hand go. It joined the other hand and she held onto him possessively. She wanted him to know just how sorry she was for not listening to him. She wanted him to know how badly she wanted him to not be angry with her. She wanted him to know just how far she was willing to go for him, as long as he did not break off their special friendship. She yearned for him to know all these through that tight grip of hers. She buried her face into his hard chest, not in the least bit feeling embarrassed.

He was not shaken by the way she held onto him. He was not afraid of the meaning of her sudden possessiveness. Even his heartbeat slowed down when she buried her head into his chest with such force. Instead of pushing her away, he responded in such a manner that could only be seen as crossing another line in their singular relationship. He stroked her hair tenderly, his chin now resting lightly on her head. He let his hands encircle her waist with firmness, as though she belonged to him. He took a deep breath, willing himself to forget his anger.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled into his chest. "I know I should have listened to you. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Sakura. I'm not mad." He finished quietly.

"No. I'm sorry. It won't happen again." She promised him fiercely, her clutch tightening.

"Really, I'm not mad at you." He was trying his best to tell her that, so why was she not catching it?

"No!" Her scream was muffled, but still, it was a scream. "I should have learned my lesson when it comes to Genma."

"Don't – " He was about to warn her not to mention his name. She cut him off.

"It IS my fault!" She yelled some more, thinking that he was about to reassure her that it was not her fault. "I am so sorry, Kakashi. Really, truly, madly, deeply sorry." She sniffed.

"You were just being nice," he offered lamely.

"Yes," she agreed. He heaved a soft sigh of relief. They were getting to an agreement now. "I was just being nice. And stupid. And gullible." She growled in annoyance.

"No – " He tried to protest, but she interjected angrily.

"I need rules for these things! These Kami-damned matters need rules!" She yelled in frustration, again tightening her embrace.

His eyebrow lifted as a slow smile crept up his lips. Rules? She needed rules?

"Sakura…" He called her name gently, hoping fervently she would break off her ranting long enough for him to continue.

"Hmm?"

"You want rules for dating Genma?" He asked tentatively.

"No." His heart skipped a beat. "I need rules to go by when the next time comes some guy makes me consider a date with him," came the stifled reply.

He breathed easy again. "May I lay down the ground rules?" His eye twinkled with anticipation.

She only grunted.

"Let's call it Kakashi and Sakura's Dating Rule," he suggested, amusement manifested in his voice.

"Law," she countered. She was beginning to enjoy their very cozy hug and did not want him to catch onto her shrewd satisfaction at the moment.

"All right. Kakashi and Sakura's Dating Law," he quipped, "states that the party getting a date invitation must have the expressed sanction of the other party involved in the law. Dates may not be held to collide with both parties' previously established meetings and such. If," he paused at the word, almost as though he thoroughly doubted the situation that would follow the 'if', "If a date could be held, then the other party of the Law must be present to ensure the smooth sailing," he knew that if she were to have a date, it would be far from smooth sailing when he would choose to be present, "of the date. Understood?"

"Can you speak human, please Kakashi?" She giggled, tickling him a little with her breath. He chuckled.

"All right. What I meant was, when you do get asked out on a date, you must have my expressed permission. Exclusive permission whether by my own hand or through these lips. Not a single middleman may be involved. You want it, you ask me. Besides that, if you do plan on having a date with whomever you choose, choose a date when we are not training or having our own down time together."

"Okay." She nodded.

"I'm not done yet. Anyway, if and only if, Sakura, that I do agree to a date for you, I must be there."

"Okay."

"Not done yet. Yare yare, Sakura-chan, do you have to be so impatient?"

"No."

"Smart bum." They both chuckled. "Anyways, make sure that whomever asks you out must ask me first."

"I'm not getting married, Kakashi." She giggled at the thought.

He cringed at the thought of her marrying Genma. He relaxed almost immediately to throw off her suspicions. "Well, do we agree on the law?"

"Yes, I agree." She pulled away from him, but not too far. "What about you, Kakashi? It's a little one-sided, don't you think so?" She tilted her head sideways, a mischievous smile played on her lips.

"Oh, right. The converse also applies to me." He grinned as his visible eye creased. "I agree, Sakura. Shake on it?"

"No," she declined firmly.

His eye widened in astonishment. "No?"

"No." Her eyebrows furrowed. "We kiss on it."

"Kiss?" His voice faltered.

"Yes, kiss." Kami, she sounded so business-like that she could hardly believe the words coming out from her mouth. But oh, did she enjoy the way her words hit on her former sensei like that, knocking him clean off his common sense – if he was ordinary enough to have any ounce of common sense.

His defenses were crumbling already. She certainly was a very fast-paced kunoichi, he told himself. So fast that he could not catch up with her. Was he getting old that fast? He closed his eyes, willing himself to kiss her. She certainly was not joking around with him, not with those green orbs staring back at him as though she was requesting him to … His thoughts waned when he felt a peck on the cheek. Comprehension dawned upon him. Kiss.

He opened his eye, only to meet in an expectant gaze from Sakura. She closed her eyes, her face tilted toward him in expectation. He obliged with a lingering kiss very near to the corner of her lips. He lingered to gauge her reaction. She remained calm and only opened her eyes after he pulled back.

She smiled and he responded with an eye crease. A hand went behind his head as he rubbed the back of his head nervously. He chuckled.

"What?" She asked, fixing a curious stare at him.

"I admit that I had a different sort of kiss in mind." He giggled.

"Pervert," she mumbled before succumbing into another embrace. Pervert or not, she was already used to him. Besides, she was too addicted to his warmth to pull herself away in indignation.

His hand now returned to its place around her waist as he basked in quiet contentment of their moment together. Pervert or not, he knew she would not trade him for a person like Genma. He vowed to resolve the unsettled matter later. Genma could wait.


	10. A Feeling of Vertigo

A/N: My last chapter before my exams. Wait for two weeks for Chapter 11, meanwhile, do review... or else it'll take longer than two weeks to get the next one up. evil grin  
_BlackDeath6, Rangerette, manyak-makarna, Bunny123_ - thank you for your support!  
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended. No profit made from this story / series.

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**Chapter 10: A Feeling of Vertigo**

He felt a slight pang of guilt for bringing this upon his friend, but really, he simply could not resist it. He was determined to share his findings – the fruits of his suicidal operation, so to speak – and was only too eager to make full use of the opportunity that arose. He had escaped fortunately in the right timing and was not that foolhardy to hang about the vindictive ninja. He stopped briefly in front of the pub, imagining himself being surrounded by awestruck faces and voices filled with wonder at his latest achievement. At least Raidou could not complain that he was always busy with the women.

He pushed open the door and stepped into dimly lit space. His eyes scanned the place for the familiar faces to whom he would recount his story. His friends were sitting in their usual corner, merrily drinking away to Raidou's jokes. Their number had dwindled greatly over the years, what with Asuma – may his soul rest in peace – sacrificing his life in battle, Kurenai too busy caring for the child she and Asuma had brought into the world, and Kotetsu and Izumo busy with the piling work Tsunade-sama bestowed so graciously upon them. He felt a twinge of sadness just thinking of how much they were getting caught up with trials of life that such simple pleasures of drinking with good company was almost too much to ask. He sauntered his way over to their table, a lopsided sneer flaunting his smugness.

Anko's sharp eyes caught sight of the familiar brown hair that they had begun to miss. He had been gone for about two months and only returned just in time for another fellow jounin's birthday celebration. He was around long enough to tease another friend and the said jounin, before disappearing off to his own apartment to get rest. He was simply dead tired from his mission, and it was taking its toll on his social life. She grinned when she saw him coming towards them, and beckoned excitedly for him to join them soon. The others followed suit and soon he found himself sitting comfortably next to Raidou.

"Genma-kun, what would you like to drink?"

He turned to his left, a small smile on his lips as he appreciatively gave her an once-over. She was a new waitress, he realized, but it certainly did not take her long to figure out just who to be affectionate with. However, he was not in the right mood to ooze his charm for her and decided instead that he would send her off to the bartender for a bottle of good sake. It was all he needed at the moment anyway. He watched her amble grudgingly towards the bar, knowing that she was very disappointed that she did not receive any special treatment from him. He turned to face the group.

"So, Genma, what's up?" Raidou clapped his back roughly.

"Kakashi and Sakura…" He waggled his eyebrows, a small twitch of lips betraying his efforts of holding back goodwill laughter.

The words that he uttered had an instant effect on them. Their sleepy eyes now shone expectantly at him, their lips curling derisively. Apparently, they were itching for fresh news regarding their favorite would-be couple at the moment. After all, they had realized that their relationship had changed somewhat after a simple reconnaissance mission in the Waterfall Country.

They could not ignore the austere glares Kakashi would dish out to any man who dared to trespass the five feet radius limit from Sakura that he had imposed. How he had managed to implement such a boundary without her consent was anybody's guess. There was also the three feet radius limit Sakura forced on Kakashi whenever a woman with suspect intentions was near. Her male counterpart – they thought it was rather appropriate to name him just that, and it was likewise for her too – did not mind at all. In fact, he found it most amusing and rather adoring of her to do so – much to the intrigue of his apprehensive group of friends.

Furthermore, it was unmistakable that there was now a strange glint in Kakashi's obsidian eye whenever Sakura came by – some claimed it was affection, some speculated it was possession, others ventured further by suggesting obsession and lust while the more romantic at heart claimed it was love. As for Sakura though, the same cannot be said for her. She had always the same sparkle in her eyes for anyone she knew personally, and even acquaintances also occasionally received her warm, beaming smile. Yet, there was a curious inflection in her voice whenever she spoke to Kakashi – it was something no one but Kakashi could distinguish, and he responded in a similar manner all the time. No one knew exactly for sure what was going on, but the lack of information only served to invigorate the rumor mill into overdrive.

Whenever the rumors got to them, they would either brush it off with a chuckle as was in Kakashi's case or cast into oblivion with a threatening fist in the faces of those who dared to question Sakura. As time moved on though, the resourceful mongers decided that it was no longer safe to ask either of them, as their nerves were fraying and sometimes, it just was not worth the lethal, steely glower they were awarded from the pair. It was better to sharpen their observation skills and hone their speculations from time to time, as was in the case of the duo's friends. They took the liberty to update both camps – Kakashi's jounin friends and Sakura's group of Rookie Nine friends – whenever possible and sometimes updates were done so that it could be put into use as a betting pool by the Tsunade-sama.

Therefore, for this matter, Genma gestured knowingly to the table next to them where Sakura's camp was seated. Naruto and Ino, the infamous perpetrators of Sakura's changed feelings theories, smirked with contentment as they insisted on their other friends to move closer to the Genma's table. They had been caught sharing such delicate information before, sometimes by Kakashi – those were eerie, sometimes by Sakura – they often resulted in a huge devastating mess, and on rare occasions, by both – those were the ultimate nightmares. They suffered dearly for their dutiful sharing sessions, but it made them shrewder than before. They had even begun to use code words to describe the two. One was lollipop – it was Naruto who suggested it, when he mentioned how the pink hue of Sakura's hair matched the poor candy in Ino's hand – and the other was the cat – a rather discreet way of calling him "Copy Cat", at Genma's suggestion of course. And so it all began as Genma retold his experiences with the two ninjas. All ears strained to listen to his story. Everyone fell silent in rapt attention.

"Well," he began, "it was during Sakura's birthday bash, you know? I just came back from the two-month long mission. Anyway, after Naruto over there and Jiraiya-sama was handled by Sakura, I just sort of noticed that Kakashi was gone. So was Sakura." He paused, looking around at the faces before him, "But I didn't think much of it at the time. It wasn't until Kurenai told us," he motioned towards his gang of friends for the other group's benefit, "that she saw them in an intimate position." He stopped a while to take a sip of his sake.

Ino drummed her fingers on the table impatiently. "Hurry up, Genma."

"Okay, okay." He held the cup of sake as he sought to organize his thoughts. "I couldn't believe Kakashi would put himself in such a situation so I figured I'd go check it out for myself. Guess what I saw?" He waggled his eyebrows and smirked as he took the opportunity to take another sip.

Hinata blushed deeply, her eyes now staring fiercely at the tabletop. Ino and Naruto merely held their breath in anticipation. Anko and Raidou sneered at the different thoughts of intimate positions that were going through their minds at the moment.

Genma sniggered as he watched their reaction, and placed his cup down on the table before resuming, "Sakura was leaning against Kakashi like this," he pulled Ino who was seated within his arm's length into a tight half-embrace, "and that was how he held her."

Ino blushed furiously while a pair of beady eyes watched Genma with ill intentions – eyes that belonged to a certain ninja who did not stop munching on the delicacies served on the table throughout the story. Genma of course, was oblivious and went on with his story telling. "He pulled her closer and she rested her head on his shoulder like this," he pushed Ino's head gently, much to her surprise, to rest in the crook of his neck, "And she didn't even objected! She was practically adoring it!" His eyes had widened to emphasize his point.

His hand never left Ino's head and so she had no choice but to rest her head awkwardly on his shoulder, though she felt rather pleasant about it. It was rather warm and comforting, besides the feeling of security that he exuded that made her want to stay longer in his arms. Genma was too absorbed in his story telling that he never actually took notice of the attention he was giving to Ino, let alone think much of the physical contact with her. In fact, he actually felt very at ease with her as his model that he did not see any need to let her go just yet. There were a few more demonstrations left for him to do anyway.

"Are you sure you saw all _that_?" Anko pointed at him, not bothering to hide her incredulity that showed through the raised eyebrows and the skeptical tone in her question. Knowing both Sakura and Kakashi well enough to understand that they were two of the most reserved ninjas when it came to physical display of affection, it was rather farfetched to say otherwise.

"Yep." He nodded earnestly as he chewed on his senbon. "I'm not done yet, buddy. So, I got myself a closer look, 'cause you know how unbelievable the situation is, right? And as I was shifting, I don't think Kakashi noticed – he was too absorbed with her, I guess – anyway, I saw her hand," he took Ino's hand, "go under his vest like this," he shoved her hand into his jounin vest – must to her discomfiture, and to other female admirers' jealousy, "so he goes and pull her up close between his legs like this!" He lifted Ino easily with both his hands and placed her in a similar position as he described – between his legs, and pulled her close to his chest. "Can you imagine what the hell is going on between those two?" He snickered.

As for the rest of them, they were too bewildered by the fearsome couple's uncharacteristic public display of affection to join his laughter. He was met with dazed looks plastered on their faces; of course Ino was excluded, as she was busy trying to adapt herself to her new position. Naruto and Kiba gaped like fishes. Chouji's hand had frozen halfway to the plate of sushi in front of him. Anko and Raidou, who had exchanged unconvinced looks before Genma put on his last act, were soaked in the face with each other's sake after they spurted it out. Hinata looked like she could melt into the ground. Kurenai merely kept her silence, her ruby eyes betraying her mirth.

The storyteller merely looked around, relishing their looks of varying astonishment. He tightened his hold around the blond between his legs now, much to the annoyance of her fellow teammates, Shikamaru and Chouji. He inhaled deeply before continuing. "That ain't all either! He sung for her!"

He what? Anko and Naruto woke up from their stupor. "He what?" they chorused.

"He sung the Beautiful Dreamer, for her!" His pitch had gone up a notch in his excitement. "Anyway, he was really, really into that song, you guys. You should have seen it!" His eyes shone. "At first, he was just holding her hands," he did the same to Ino, "then after a while… I think he came to the part about the rainbow in his mother's eyes, yeah… anyway, he lets go of her hand and stroke her cheeks!" he demonstrated briefly before letting his arm fall limply to his lap, "then after a while they came to the part of the story going to end… and I think she started crying, 'cause he was wiping her cheeks with his thumb like this," he tenderly wiped his model's soft cheek with his thumb, "then she flung her arms around his neck like this," he turned to Ino and gave her an encouraging nod – much to Chouji's chagrin, she did as she was told, "and they were cuddling until the song ended. Their faces were so close," his eyes widened in emphasis, Ino blushed – thanking silently that he did not choose to show their audience just how close their faces were.

"And then, what happened?" Lee, who had been silent throughout, spoke in a hushed voice.

Genma rolled his eyes and grunted. "They broke apart and he gave her a seashell."

"A seashell? You mean _the_ seashell, don't you?" Naruto was finding it getting harder and harder to believe by every sentence that Genma uttered. He knew just how important the seashell was to Kakashi, with him as a near casualty the first and last time he got his hands on the shell. He had never seen Kakashi become so possessive over such a seemingly insignificant item such as a common shell.

"Yeah. I was shocked too, but I guess he's been planning to give her just that," he added smugly, his lips curling into a sneer. "I found out just now. Anyways, after he gave her that, they were talking about something … I don't know what," he shrugged, "then he did the puppy dog face at her." He grinned wickedly. He knew full well just how Kakashi looked with such a face, as he had pulled it on Naruto before to scare him off. It was beyond horrifying; in fact, it was terrifying and traumatizing – for both Naruto and Pakkun, who had been an innocent witness to the spectacle.

Anko chortled in laughter, leaning back in her seat as she fought to catch her breath. Raidou choked on his sashimi, but that did not stop him from laughing between coughs. Naruto cringed, then sniggered. The others, never having the opportunity to see Kakashi's infamous ugly Pakkun cute face, merely exchanged looks with each other dumbly.

"What did she do?" Naruto sputtered out as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"She punched him!" They gasped, and then laughed wholeheartedly in unison. He merely grinned. "Then she healed him, and they spoke for a while…" He signaled to the nearby waitress for more sake. "And she kissed him."

They fell into stunned silence, looking at him as though he had grown an extra head. "Kissed?" Lee barely whispered.

He chuckled. "Just his nose. Oh, before that it was his eye. Did I mention that her hands were entangled with his?" The senbon in his mouth was now bobbing up and down faster as his eyes shone in mischief.

It would be an understatement to say that his audience was flabbergasted. Their minds had gone numb with shock; their mouths gaped open at his nonchalant statement. Not a single person from among his devoted listeners could string a coherent sentence. They merely stared at him dumbly. Even Chouji had stopped eating. The first to fall was Anko, and she slumped forward onto the table – shocked beyond her normal tolerance, into unconsciousness. Genma's hold on Ino had weaken considerably by this point, and she took the opportunity to escape from his steely grip and quickly sat back in her seat.

As Genma assisted Raidou to wake Anko back into the living world, Ino motioned to her group of friend to make their exit. They merely nodded dumbly and followed her out. Of course, she did not leave Genma without a fleeting peck on the cheek – which left him mildly flustered but pleased at the same time. Ino, unlike her other friends, had decided to put the little piece of revealing information regarding her pink-haired friend and her former sensei's relationship into good use. She led them towards the Hokage's office, her mind not once resting from churning and spewing out every single scheme she could apply to Sakura's little secret.

Genma, back at the pub, was too puzzled but pleased to continue his assistance any longer. Instead, he leaned back in his chair to ponder on a certain blonde kunoichi. It was only for a brief while though, before he noticed a familiar towering shadow formed on the table top from behind him. He gulped, not daring to turn to look behind him at all. He closed his eyes shut and held his breath.

"Yo." The familiar deep rumbling of the silver-haired ninja he had spoken about earlier sounded rather … edgy at the moment. Putting on his best innocent grin, he turned around and replied with a nervous chuckle of his own. The mask creased visibly as he saw – to his horror – that Kakashi was smirking. He was in deep trouble all right – too deep for him to pull himself out. That was a fat chance, considering the tightening grip Kakashi was forming on his collar.

"Let's walk, _buddy_." He dragged out the last word with such malice that Genma could not help but shudder.

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TBC 


	11. A Vacation

_loverofallthingschocolate, BlackDeath6, Battie-2170, the rose has thorns, slaughnite, DarkAngelXF, Rangerette, Ribbon-chan03, deformed beauty, kwintess, infinite'sgirl, Pretzel451, Depp'd - _thanks so much for your support!!!! i do hope that this chapter would live up to your expectations...have a good read and please do share your thoughts on it!

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended.

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**Chapter 11: A Vacation**

Little ripples formed on the surface of the sake in the cup. The windowpanes shook faintly, yet not unnoticed by the blond-haired woman who was now on the verge of deafness. The indignant little lady with her hands on her hips in front of her was absolutely oblivious to the effect of her escalating shrill voice on the ears of the occupants of the room. She, the said little lady, was withholding with all her available willpower the giant waves of incensed rage for the sake of her fellow teammates, peers and the very well _respected _woman sitting behind the desk. She took in deep breaths, as was taught by her former sensei who had been on some receiving ends of her explosive temper. She certainly was not going to throw back the crazy strength skill at her teacher. Not when the Fifth Hokage in all her glory was able to make her life more miserable than it was at the moment. She balled her hands into tensed fists, concentrating on the eyes of her teacher so she would still have what was left of her self-control.

"I beg your pardon, Tsunade-shishou, could you please repeat the brief outline of our next _mission_?" She nearly spat the last word out, but caught her tongue before doing so. Such insolence would only invite one hell of retribution from her sensei.

"I said, Sakura," she smiled most graciously, throwing caution to the wind as she reveled in her apprentice's uncomfortable attempt at restraint, "that you and Kakashi will be leading this," she waved a hand carelessly towards to the others, "exceptional team on a vacation." She clapped her hands. "It is considered a mission because I need you all to be rejuvenated and refreshed before undertaking incoming missions for the forthcoming months."

"Exceptional indeed." She growled as she let her murderous scowl settle briefly on each member of her team, save for the fortunate gray-haired man on her right. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she glanced from Yamanaka Ino – a blond bombshell and a feisty best friend to boot, Shiranui Genma – a lecher who had previously asked her out on a date, Uchiha Sasuke – for his unexpected participation in the mission, Sai – for being the grinning idiot that he was at the moment and lastly, and for that honor, she bestowed a prolonged glare on Uzumaki Naruto for his pathetic attempt at nonchalance. They were indeed some of the best and most sought after ninjas in their village and region. But really, since when did she become a team leader leading this mixed bunch for a sorry excuse of a vacation? Was that not a good enough reason to suspect that these idiots, including the Hokage herself, were up to something?

Barely breathing and certainly not about to utter a single syllable, Kakashi strode forward and took the mission scroll from the Hokage's table. He accepted her explanation for the dubious vacation and would rather not incite his pink-haired companion's boiling anger further lest the Hokage tower be blown into devastation. Besides, leaving the village for a vacation really sounded appealing – though he would rather spend it alone with his regular partner on missions, the spitfire of a woman standing next to him. Certain arrangements to be alone with her could be made effortlessly, seeing as how their fellow teammates were rather mindful of her volatile temperament. He settled for that comforting thought, and cared even less about the extra pairs of eyes watching him. He patted her shoulder gently and smiled at her, with only his crinkled lone eye telling her that he was smiling.

"Let's go pack, Sakura," he coaxed her gently. He was wise enough to drop her cute honorific he usually called her with, for the sake of his life.

Her expression softened considerably, but not gone unnoticed by the other people in the room as they exchanged quick knowing looks with each other. She was blissfully unaware of the inconspicuous signaling, as was the man who waited for her reply. She beamed at him and proceeded to take his hand and left the room without so much as a backward glance at her sensei, who took the pointed ignorance with good humor. After all, her efforts were about to pay off big time and, at the expense of her apprentice and her former sensei. With a small wave of her hand, she dismissed the ninjas so they could go off to their respective homes to get ready for their mission.

"That's settled, then," she said offhandedly, not directing the comment to anyone in particular.

"What is?" The senbon bobbed up and down in his mouth as he cast a puzzled look at the blonde. He had begrudgingly accepted her plea to join the wretched vacation, out of his weakness for her flirtatious ploys. He knew he was engaging in a precarious situation, especially since the last time he had attempted to bring Sakura out for a date. He had acquired more bodily injuries by being the unwitting recipient of Kakashi's merciless lessons than all the injuries he received during his missions. He winced at the reminder and touched his left cheek tenderly. It still hurt, and was the only bruise left that served to remind him to not dare approach Sakura for social outings ever again.

"Oh, all you have to do is just relax and enjoy yourself," she replied, rather flippantly – evading the question.

He rolled his eyes, miffed that he was basically told not to bother probing further. "Sure," he replied and parted ways with her at the junction, leaving a mystified Ino staring after him.

With a roll of her eyes and a small shrug, she left the matter at rest and went back to her own home to pack up immediately. It was silly, really, trying to get into his mind. He was as predictable as a pregnant woman. One minute he would flirt shamelessly with her, and the next he would shove her with his cold shoulder treatment. She had managed to coax him to tag along with them for the vacation, though it was not without the use of some of her very _basic_ kunoichi skills – flirting. Really, was he that weak of a ninja that he could not resist her charmed approach or was it because it was _she_ who did the flirting? She snorted, dismissing such thoughts and replaced them with the probable fact that it was because the idea involved some quality time with Sakura. Bearing that in mind, she quickly got into her apartment and got started on her packing.

"Oh man, Sakura-chan is so scary!" The blonde whined as he threw his hands in the air before putting them behind his head. He had been supportive of Ino's ingenious but simple plan when he figured it would be full of priceless moments of snapping pictures of his former sensei and Sakura. Besides, he needed some time off before the next mission to the Wind Country – from what Hokage had described briefly to him. He turned to his right, looking at the Uchiha heir who was nonchalantly stepping into Ichiraku's. A goofy grin plastered on his face as he grabbed the hand of his other companion and dragged him along to the ramen stall.

After placing their orders, the trio sat in comfortable silence. It was normally like this, when they were anticipating the outcome of their next mission they were assigned to carry out. Even Naruto was pensive, though usually when the food came his glibness would return full-fledged. Sasuke would just stare at the menu on the counter while sorting through his thoughts, perhaps rearranging a few of their strategies. Sai sometimes would draw, and sometimes would engage Naruto in a conversation – usually to draw Sasuke's annoyance out of its closet. They were a peculiar bunch, but they always got the job done – eventually and usually after Naruto has a tail barely out of his normal chakra mold.

Sasuke, as much as he would like to deny it, was very much still chagrined that Sakura and Kakashi were on very friendly terms with each other. Since his return to the village, he had seen less and less of Sakura around in town without the man beside her. Not only that, any time he should have any ideas of asking her out for a date he would receive the same treatment the Copy Nin dished out to other would-be suitors. At the time, he had thought it was just the older ninja being a protective father figure to Sakura. He was soon corrected, though, when about two weeks ago he was among the avid listener to Genma's story telling of Kakashi and Sakura. Everyone, including Naruto, knew it was something more than friendship that was between her and him. Everyone but him knew something and he had thought it was far more innocent than that.

Sai, on the other hand, spent his time drawing pictures of their current targets – a mini-Tsunade and the son of the White Fang. Both were very exceptional ninja in their own rights, perhaps even surpassing the self-proclaimed Uchiha prodigy sitting next to Naruto. His thoughts took a full swing turn towards the Uchiha. He was going on a mission with Naruto and that so-called prodigy and was more than intrigued by the fact that Sasuke seemed annoyed that he was coming along. They all knew that Sai's skills were essential to the mission, as well as Naruto's, but Sasuke's skills left much to be desired. He could not help but think that the Uchiha was assigned to the mission so that Naruto could watch over him. With Naruto along, it took less effort to keep the Uchiha from rebelling and defying orders and ranks. He chanced a brief glance at Naruto, wondering for a moment if he actually knew the effect he had on the Uchiha. Probably, like the dumb idiot that he was regarding such matters, he did not know at all. Perhaps he was even unaware of it. The other two had already begun eating their meals, so he too began savouring his bowl of ramen. After their meals, they would set off to get their vacation pack ready.

"Seriously, you were early!" Sakura held back her amused laughter as she fell into step with her mission partner behind the rest. They were already heading off to the next village for an uneventful vacation. Uneventful was the exact ingredient she needed, though she hated to admit that considering that she was practically married to her medic-nin job and her missions with Kakashi. She had thanked the Hokage reluctantly that morning, when she headed off to the office before joining her teammates.

"I was five minutes late than the agreed departure time, Sakura," he replied, accompanied with a resigned sigh. Really, he was still late, though not as late as he usually was on their other missions. It was a habit he would never give up, not even if the captivating young woman next to him tried to seduce him out of it. Well, perhaps he should be more chronically late – just out of mild eagerness that she might resort to bribery or seduction. That was an idea to be reconsidered carefully, and perhaps he should get started on planning his moves too. Her voice shook him away from his fleeting naughty thoughts.

"I know," she let out a giggle, "but you were earlier than your normal time. Early kind of late, you know what I mean?" She beamed at him then burst into a fit of giggles.

He slung an arm over her shoulders – something he had grown accustomed to doing – and smiled. "Yeah, I guess."

They walked in silence, not really paying attention to the rapidly moving lips of their fellow teammates who had been watching them. They were very discreet that even Kakashi could not decipher exactly what they were saying, except for the occasions when the "cat" and the "lollipop" were muttered out loud. He refused to waste his chakra reserves and resort to his Sharingan just to figure their odd conversations out.

"Oh, Kakashi…" Sakura looked up at him in askance.

"Yes?" He returned her gaze.

"I want you to promise me something." His heart skipped a beat, he noted, feeling foolish for such a reaction to her words. He nodded, gently prompting her to continue. "Please make sure nobody peeps, okay?"

"Huh?"

She breathed in before launching into her explanation. "We're going to the hot springs as well, remember? So, make sure nobody peeps in at Ino and me…" She nodded towards Naruto and Genma and turned towards him. "Yourself included, by the way."

He let out a small chuckle. "What, nobody peeps in at me too?"

"No!" She replied indignantly. "I meant, you can't peep at her and me."

"Why not her?" An eyebrow arched. "Jealous much?"

"Oh, you!" She punched him at his side, earning a pained groan in response. "You know what I mean!"

"Well, on certain terms," he tentatively replied, persuaded by her silence to continue further, "you're asking of me something huge. It's a huge, huge responsibility," he added with a serious tone in his voice though his eye twinkled with mirth. She rolled her eyes. "So, you'd have to trade with me certain perks and stuff." She let out a scornful huff, but maintained her silence. "One, I get first dibs to your free time for the next month," he held up a hand before she could object, "Two, your apartment is under renovation for two months, so stay with me during that time," this time he held up a finger to silence her, "Three, during your stay with me, I do expect you to cook for me my favorite broiled saury whereas I'll manage the other aspects of housekeeping by myself." He smiled, and his visible eye crinkled again. "So, what say you?"

She folded her arms across her chest, her eyebrow arched as she began to refute him. "One, you do get first dibs to my free time, all the time!" She punctuated the last three words each with a jab at his side. "Two, I don't know how to cook your broiled fish!" She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. She looked at him. "Why else do you think I leave the cooking to you?"

"Oh." Oops. He had treaded on a nerve there.

"Oh?" She rolled her eyes. "Argh. Never mind. So, okay, I'll trade off with you."

He replied his agreement by pulling her closer.

Their innocent banter and display of affection were noted by their teammates, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation with full interest. Even Sasuke and Sai could not help but be intrigued by their relationship dynamics.

Genma followed Kakashi's example and pulled the blond woman next to him closer, leaving his arm flung around her shoulder after. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" He muttered.

She replied with a wicked grin and turned around to signal to Naruto. He nodded faintly, before passing a camera to Sasuke who proceeded to inconspicuously snap a photograph of the two ninjas behind them.

Objective number one completed.


	12. A Broken Promise

**A/n: Well, this was originally a combination of chapter 12 and 13... so I broke it up. It's shorter than usual, but I do hope that i'm at least tying up some loose ends... By the way, do let me know if there are some loose ends within the story... and I'll try to clarify things, all right? Thanks! Btw, I'll hold off putting Chapter 13 until after this week (today's 19/10) so that more people would review this chapter and chapter 11... hahaha, I'm evil, but heck - I need the feedback, I have to know I'm doing this okay. **

**Thank-yous:-**  
_November Chill, White-Petals, dragonfangjade, Mercury569, Mateba - _for putting this story as faves!  
_White-Petals, dragonfangjade, Sob Worthy, Angels Falls8, Kakashi's Rose_ - for taking the time to put this on alert!  
_White-Petals - _for putting me on alert!  
_Rangerette,_ _BlackDeath6, Mystic Spirit Angel, Mateba, Angels Falls8_ - for reviewing! thanks for all your feedback!!!  
_Ai-chan and Gaara-kun 4 ever - _for pointing out that Genma is older than Kakashi... FYI, I've corrected Chapter 8 and 9 where the error occured. If you found more, let me know!

**Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement intended.**

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**Chapter 12: A Broken Promise**

"Ooh… Ino, it's just so… hot!" Sakura dipped her toes gently into the steaming hot spring before retreating in a reflex reaction. It was really too hot for her. Her knuckles turned white as she clutched the edges of her towel securely. She was not about to lower her nude body so fast into the blistering hot water. She cast a brief glance at her friend who seemed deaf to her comment – she looked like a steamed lobster with blonde hair. Smiling amusedly at her own observation, she waited for her toes to recover before repeating her previous attempt to settle into the spring.

It was the second day of vacation but really, the first real taste of vacation for all of them. They had spent their first day in their respective rooms getting their much-needed rest after they had trudged on through the woods and lonely pathways to get to their destination. It was bustling by the time they reached there as the villagers rushed off to their respective homes after work. Their antisocial mood certainly did nothing to lighten up their plans either, as the innkeeper was obviously put off by their reticent manner and gruff replies when probed. So, instead of having separate rooms for everyone, they could only get three rooms to be shared between them.

Sakura would have chosen Kakashi as her roommate, knowing that he was a very quiet and _considerate_ sleeper – unlike her blonde crab-look-alike friend who snored as loud as the gong when she was dead tired. Unfortunately for her, Kakashi had opted to share a room with Genma, considering the fact that the brunette cannot be left alone with a woman in a room lest her modesty be threatened. However, on the bright side, Ino did not spend her waking moments for some girly conversations whatsoever and was already in deep sleep, and cranked up all the way in her snoring by the time Sakura settled into bed. To her surprise, she too slept without much trouble and even woke up later than Sasuke himself who was usually the last one to wake up. Speaking of Sasuke, he had not much choice but to share a room with Naruto and Sai, who was more than uncomfortable with the thought of Sasuke in close proximity.

"Oh, come on you princess!"

A splash of water wetted her from top to bottom soon after the particular remark was made. Sakura shook her head vigorously, her eyes still eying the steam that rose from the water. Her mind was distracted by how hot and steaming the spring looked as she attempted again to slowly lower herself into it. Another splash of hot water drenched her and she could not but wiped her face off of the water.

"Ino! Don't do that again!" She yelled angrily at her friend, frustrated that she still could not get into the water. Her foot slipped and her ankle twisted at an awkward angle, eliciting a shrill scream from her. The painful head-crunching fall did not come, though, and she soon realized that she was floating in the air. Her eyes, which were tightly shut just as she was about to fall, opened and widened when she realized that she was being held by a pair of sturdy arms. She could hardly believe her eyes.

"Kakashi?" She managed to squeak out.

"Yo." She could _hear_ him grinning. He certainly looked comfortable holding her like that, and being shirtless in front of Ino too, she noted rather bitterly.

"What're you doing here?" She asked rather indignantly, still not making any moves to get back down on her feet. He did not seem to want to remind her anyway.

"Saving you. What else?" He chuckled, and only brought her closer to his chest. The damsel in distress blushed faintly, he noticed, and the sweltering heat around them was certainly not the cause of it.

"Oh. Right. Um, thanks." She glanced down at her towel, now in disarray on her front, as she endeavored to avoid his amused gaze. Realization rammed into her consciousness rudely, as she realized that his _bare_ hands was holding her exposed bottom and back. "Kakashi!" She yelled his name, hoping to surprise him enough that he would drop her into the water, as she struggled in his grip and pushed against his chest.

"Hmm?" He lazily endured her struggling. "What?"

"Get your hands off me!" She snapped at him through gritted teeth, shooting a venomous glare at him.

"Oh." He acquiesced by setting her down on her feet.

She instantly tried to arrange her towel properly and swatted at his arms occasionally as he tried to be helpful. When she accomplished what she wanted to do, she jabbed a finger at his chest, an eyebrow arched.

"You did remember your promise, didn't you?" She drawled slowly, almost suspiciously.

"Oops." He shrugged nonchalantly; keeping a straight face even under the towel that hid it.

"Oops?" She echoed, only in a voice that was of a few pitches higher. "Oops? Just oops?" She threw her arms up in frustration.

"Careful, might slip," He emphasized his point by holding her towel delicately between his index finger and thumb.

Her eyes widened at him, her mouth gaped in indignant shock. Unable to form a coherent sentence, she was reduced to sputter out an authoritative, "Out." Peering at him angrily, she pointed to the exit – where a certain black-haired ninja was seen trying to hide the glare coming from a suspicious looking gadget. "Now."

Knowing that he could not possibly reason with her being in such a mood, and also that the gushed gratitude he was expecting from her would have to wait, he spun on his heels quietly and did not attempt to infuriate her further with his witty banter. He arched an eyebrow at Sasuke, who had been watching them since they both rushed over, but was merely responded with a cold stare. Without a word, the two men left together, heading towards the men's spring where the others were enjoying themselves.

Sakura, still fuming, did not care much for the boiling water of the spring and settled in a comfortable position opposite Ino. She kept her silence, her eyebrows still furrowed from her exasperating encounter with the gray-haired ninja. She held up a foot and started to scrub the skin between her toes roughly – her thoughts still on him. He certainly was fast and alert enough to reach her on time, she admitted, but just why did he have to act like a smart ass with her after that? Did his save somehow justify his acting like a cool and arrogant ass? She let out a heavy sigh, knowing well that she would have to apologize to him later on. In the meantime, she would allow her body and mind to be relaxed and soothed with the gentle ripples of the spring.

Ino chuckled softly as she watched her friend, apparently amused by the intriguing exchange between Sakura's hot temper and Kakashi's coolness. She was hoping for her friend to show more fascinating emotions such as embarrassment or perhaps admiration for her former sensei who caught her in time to break her fall – instead of the righteous anger and nervous gratitude. She certainly acted like a prudent virgin. Ino smirked, remembering that Sasuke had managed to snap a shot of Kakashi holding Sakura with her legs hooked over an arm as another arm supported her back. He barely managed to get the camera out of sight just when her pink-haired friend adjusted her line of sight. They had a week to refresh themselves, and unbeknownst to their team leaders – to catch candid moments between Kakashi and Sakura on photographs, as suggested gleefully by their Hokage-sama. Ino decided to forget about their "mission" for a moment to just relax herself before Sakura could pounce any question on her.

On the other side of the wooden fence where the men's spring was located, Kakashi settled himself comfortably in a lonely corner – excluding himself from the company of his fellow teammates. No doubt Sasuke would be relating to them what had just happened at the other side anytime soon. He was not in a mood for Genma's insinuations or even Naruto's harmless teasing. He was in the doghouse with Sakura now, though he could only see a little bit of the reason why. On the other hand, he saw no fit motive that instigated her anger to the point of even forgetting to thank him properly like she normally would and sent him away without so much as a peck on the cheek.

He stared at his callused hands, remembering the feel of her skin at his touch. She felt so smooth and silky that he was almost unable to contain himself any longer. He had almost lost his self-control – almost caressing her, almost letting his fingers dance on her – and her respect for him. He had already come to terms with himself that he had begun having some sort of physical attraction to her, ever since she had blossomed – _what a cliché_, he though rather dreamily – at the fine age of 18. Time certainly had passed so fast, and before he knew it – she was already a twenty-two year old medic-nin currently unattached as well as his partner on missions. Fate certainly had a sense of humor, although it was an ironic one. She was his former student, but he let that passed considering that she did not find engaging in a romantic relationship with one's former teacher was repulsive – he found out on one of those nights that she drank until she was drunk. Yet, she seemed oblivious that he was at least, mildly attracted to her in some funny way. He had made it a point to flirt with her whenever he could – thanks to Kami-sama, she reciprocated on all those times, to be some sort of physically open with her – he remembered the time he walked in on her showering, though she did not seem to care – and sometimes, just sometimes, to show her his romantic side – to his delight, she cherished those moments and awarded him with a peck on the cheek afterwards.

He sighed softly.

After the bath, he promised, he would set off to the village's florist and get her the best bouquet he could get. He should not be in the doghouse for too long, he decided – he would miss her too much.


	13. A Bet

**A/N:** It's long because I wanted to let you guys in on their 'mission objectives' and also because this _could_ be the last chapter talking about the vacation itself. I don't want them stuck in here for too long. Also because _BlackDeath6 _was wondering why Sakura's unhappy with Kakashi, so I wanted to clear any confusion and I hope it worked out (first paragraph). Plus, I'm still making this piece look like a _one-shot_ kinda thing even though it's part of a _series - _so it must have an appropriate ending. Plus, (it just gets longer huh?) I want to **_kill_** any notions of SasuSaku in here.

I've had _loverofallthingschocolate, Ribbon-chan03_ and _Mateba_ asking for some Genma/Ino stuff in here, so I'll oblige at some point of the story, subtly or otherwise, or maybe a spin-off after I'm done.

**BTW**: The **10th reviewer** for this chapter gets to decide on the next prompt/idea/whatever for a Kakashi/Sakura _one-shot_. Catch: It'll get done after this series/collection is completed. (I'm feeling generous.)

**Thank you's:  
**_sakura0617, Alice001, MagicalGirl23_ - for putting this story on fave!  
_sakura0617, Alice001_ - for +fav me  
_Alice001_ - for this on +alert  
_Sob Worthy, sakura0617, Alice001, BlackDeath6, loverofallthingschocolate_ - for the lovely reviews and ideas to get me inspired... -hee-

**Disclaimer: Naruto and other related characters, unless otherwise stated, belong to Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement intended. Purely for entertainment purposes, and also to relieve my addiction.**

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**Chapter 13: A Bet**

As for his other teammates, being deprived of his company only encouraged them to occupy themselves in an alternative form of entertainment – since they could not amuse themselves with teasing him. Their conversation centered unhealthily on the impending – collectively, they thought of it as doomed – conversation he was going to have with the cherry blossom. From what Sasuke told them, his arrogant display of casualness only resulted in her silent anger. They had even ventured to guess that in Sakura's books, Kakashi had broken the promise he had made before and he was also clueless enough not to know that. Either that, or the thought of perhaps catching a glimpse of her bare skin was too much of a temptation for him. They could not decide which. Besides, one of the main reasons they suggested the hot springs as part of the vacation was to analyze any reaction from either party when they accidentally saw some form of nakedness by the other person – in public. It was at Genma's suggestion, partly because he knew vaguely that the temperamental kunoichi was adamant on maintaining her modesty no matter what. Having Kakashi violate that would only result in a fight – which lead to another mission objective: to see the extent to which Kakashi would commit himself in order to regain Sakura's favor. Well, for now, it seemed as though things were going smoothly – without the team leaders even aware of it.

"Hey, Naruto, how much you wanna bet?" Genma broke into a mischievous grin, his eyes still watching his friend in the far off corner.

"On what?" Naruto sat next to him, also casually staring his former sensei who – intriguingly – did not use up his free time to read his dirty little orange book. Instead, he was frowning hard at the ripples in the water as though he was deep in thought about something.

"On how long it'll be until _she_ speaks to him civilly again."

Their other two black-haired companions kept their silence, though both their interest were piqued and more than enticed to join in the bet. It would take their shrewd minds on a thrill ride of calculating the odds. They normally would not participate in such wanton waste of hard-earned money, but with the famed Copy Nin and the next Tsunade in the making thrown into the mix – it was an irresistible touch to the game. They had participated in a few calculative bets involving the couple, though most of the time they were wrong. No matter how much thought they gave into a situation, the outcome that Kakashi and Sakura produced would totally put a whole new different spin to it – yet it was because of this that they were so attracted to any bets involving the couple. It was always challenging.

Naruto was silent for a while; contemplating on the stakes he was willing to go with. "How much?"

"Small stakes, man." Genma furrowed his eyebrows, stroking his chin as he pondered over it. "Twenty?"

"Forty." The two of them turned to Sasuke, wide grins spread on their faces. It was not unusual that Genma would start the bet and Naruto would join in without second thoughts followed by the brunette making the stakes, no it was certainly normal but usually a ploy to get their other two penny-pinching teammates into throwing in higher stakes and coming up with ridiculous scenarios. When the two crabs lost, the other two would revel in their winnings and split it between them. It was a joint effort, after all – to get Uchiha Sasuke and Sai stripped off of their beloved money.

"Mine's twenty." Naruto turned to Sai, expecting him to put in a higher wager. "Sai?"

"Forty-five."

"Mine's twenty, too." Genma smirked. "How many days, you guys? I'm thinking about… say, two days?"

"A day and a half," came the reply from Sasuke, to which Sai also agreed. It was a reasonable venture. After all, Sasuke had taken into consideration the affection Sakura held for their former sensei, aside from the fact that Kakashi too shared the same sort of fondness for her. With regards to Kakashi's laziness, he figured it would take less time than what Genma expected but also longer time than what a normal person would venture. Sai studied enough of Sakura and Kakashi to know that despite their mutual fondness, Kakashi's indolence posed a problem in their friendly affiliation and therefore arrived at the same deduction as Sasuke's.

Naruto shook his head, a mischievous grin on his face. "Man, you guys are totally off." He chuckled, dismissing their speculations with a nonchalant wave.

"Oh yeah? What say you, then?" His smirk was still plastered on his face. He knew Kakashi well enough to know that the silver haired jounin would not do anything about it, and so the silent war would drag on longer than expected. Sure, Naruto hung about the two more than he did, but that did not mean that Genma had not gleaned enough information regarding Kakashi's behavior to arrive at such a conclusion. The man was lazy, slothful, languid, too relaxed and whatever synonyms that could describe him and his notorious laziness – nothing could move his butt to go out of his way to please the cherry blossom, not even her. He was sure of it.

"As soon as Sakura walks out of here – within an hour." He waggled his eyebrows, and then laughed heartily. "Deal?" It was better to close the wagering before they caught on to his reasoning.

"Deal." The other three replied in unison.

"Okay then. Let's just sit back and enjoy ourselves on this one." Naruto closed his eyes and let his head rest against the wooden fence, a satisfied grin playing on his lips. This was easier than he thought. He could not blame Sasuke or Sai for expecting the argument to last longer than _he _expected. After all, how many times in a day did they ever take the opportunity to gain some insight as to Sakura's behavior? As for Genma, he chuckled softly at the thought of the fellow jounin; he had only looked from Kakashi's perspective but not Sakura's. If his former sensei's refusal to mingle with them were any indication, he knew that the older man would have formulated a plan to _sidle_ into his pink-haired friend's good graces again. Based on that reasoning alone, Naruto knew it would not take that long for Kakashi to spring his plans onto her. Despite his slothful appearance, he worked faster than anyone else when he set his mind onto it – and this little problem was definitely worth his determination.

His three companions cast wary glances at him, wondering in their own minds about his lackadaisical manner regarding his bet. He seemed too relaxed, as though he was on the verge of winning. The thought of Naruto winning the gamble at hand was almost unbearable for both Sasuke and Genma. It would be a blow to their reputations and ego. Just what was he hiding? They had second thoughts about their bets, but decided against pulling out of it. It could just be a psychological maneuver to get them to forfeit. Knowing that it would be a waste of time to probe him into confession, they too began to relax and enjoy the warmth of the spring. They would settle the matter at a more convenient time, and not at their expense of enjoyment.

"Aw, man." It did not take much for them to figure why Naruto was upset. He patted his growling stomach sadly, knowing that he would have to get out of the warmth at that moment. He stared at his team leader, who caught his eye and responded with a curt nod. "All right!" He jumped out of the water, splashing his other companions with the hot water. Aggravated protests were useless and ignored. He followed his former sensei to the changing rooms.

"So, Kakashi-sensei! Where are we heading?" Naruto looked at him, the hunger ever so evident in his blue eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his other teammates following behind them. Even Sakura and Ino looked hungry as they hastily strode towards them, apparently trying to keep their hunger at bay and hidden underneath their weak peals of laughter.

Kakashi paused mid-step, turning slightly to see the two girls behind them before fixing an unreadable stare at the blond man. "Ask Sakura-chan for me, will you?" He did not wait for any reply and instead quickly got into the changing room before any of his companions could talk to him. He had to get into action before the hour was over.

With a resigned shrug, Naruto jogged over to the girls. "Hey, Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei said you'll decide our eating place…" He looked at her expectantly, withholding the urge to smirk. The older man was certainly adept at slinking his way back on her good side. Giving her the authority to decide even over a trivial matter could give a boost to her ego. He made a mental note to save the tactic to be put into good use on Sakura next time. It would come in handy, especially when she had her mood swings.

"He did?" Ino arched an eyebrow slightly, her eyes narrowed. She too knew exactly what Kakashi was trying to do, and how her friend would react to it. As underhanded as it is, she could not help but give praise to his sly strategy – the man certainly deserved it, and if this move was any sign, he was going to succeed winning a smile from her within record time. She wondered a little, if perhaps Sakura would fall for such guile. She turned to her friend in anticipation.

"Oh. That's sweet," Sakura commented rather casually. She did not think much about it, knowing that the silver-haired jounin was probably still avoiding her for fear that she would reject his apology. This was just one of his ways to make sure she had cooled down with him. She decided to just let him know, subtly, that she had indeed let their earlier slight pass – although he would have to treat them, she decided. "Let's get some seafood… I miss those!" She squealed in delight as she remembered the last time they had seafood for a meal. "Tell him, will you?" She looked at Naruto with a sheepish smile on her face, knowing that he would not mind doing so. She did not want to approach the man herself as it would be somewhat entertaining to see just how far he would go to make up to her.

He nodded vigorously and turned around just in time to see their former sensei walking out of the door. "Kakashi-sensei!" He jogged towards him, a hand clutching his towel around his waist as the other waved at the man who turned around to look at him. "Wait up!"

"Well?" He waited, although he was getting restless by the second each time Naruto gasped for air. "What did she say?"

"Seafood… I guess the one we saw near the boutique," He managed to squeak out despite his gasps.

"Oh. Okay. I'll see you guys there, then. Later," He waved, dismissing Naruto before disappearing into the crowd. Once he was out of sight, he quickened his pace, pushing his way through the crowd whenever he had to. He finally came to a stop at huge flower shop, hesitating faintly outside the door. He had not thought of what flowers to give to her. Daisies? Bluebells? Roses? Perhaps he could ask the florist on what best to give to her. He entered the shop, bearing in mind to remain somewhat guarded in his replies. They had a week to stay in the village, and he certainly was not going to have any rumors spreading around regarding their friendship if it meant that things were going to get back to his other companions.

"Hello there, sir. How can I help you?" A young woman in her twenties greeted him. Her eyes wandered faintly to estimate just how sturdy he looked underneath the civilian clothes. Her appreciative smile and the faint blush on her cheeks told him that she liked what she saw, although she seemed uncertain about his age – thanks to his silver hair. Perhaps he should lead her off-track. Maybe he would get more assistance from her that way.

"Well, I'm looking for the right bouquet for my er, girlfriend." The word sounded foreign out of his mouth, though it was a safer choice than 'wife'. He honestly would have chosen 'wife' instead of 'girlfriend', but then he would have to fake some more stories and that would just be too troublesome for everyone else.

Her friendly demeanor changed abruptly. Her eyes that had shone in anticipation now turned blank, almost resentful. Her smile now was forced. He gulped, wondering a little if he had said the right thing.

"Oh, for what occasion?" Her tone was also cold, but still disguised in a cool manner. She sounded distinctly professional – a tone that he too remembered that Sakura had used on him before.

"Peace offering?" He said, almost in a meekly manner.

She laughed heartily, as though she was happy to hear that. He restrained himself from shuddering.

"I see. Come with me please," With a smile and a simple gesture to the numerous array of flowers on sale, she came out from behind the counter and led him to a corner. He followed, subconsciously making sure his footsteps were as light as hers.

He watched her pick certain flowers at random, holding some in one hand as the other free hand picked the rest. He frowned slightly, looking at her choice. They were ugly. He had some doubts to her taste. Perhaps he should leave and ask Pakkun to get some flowers from the gardens he came across. Pakkun had better taste than she did.

"Well, er, I think I'd better go now. Wouldn't want to be late and all that," He explained nervously. He hoped he sounded just right.

"Oh, all right." She quickly arranged the bouquet – which looked even more ugly now that she arranged them – rather haphazardly. He bit back a would-be offending comment: "Are you sure it looks okay?" He had a back-up plan for this, but still – he should not get on her bad side, judging on how helpful she was with him.

"Thanks," He whispered gratefully, and quickly took the bouquet of big and ugly flowers out of her hand and paid her. He was out of the door before she could remind him that he had not taken back his change. Heck, he did not want any change. He quickly summoned Pakkun.

"Yo." A droopy pair of eyes stared at him as he squatted to be level with the pug.

"Yo. Need your help." He hoped he did not sound too nervous.

"What?"

"I need flowers – small, pretty, fragile, dainty flowers. Whatever." He shrugged.

"Sakura mad at you again?"

"Hai."

If he could roll his eyes, he would have. Pakkun grunted. "All right. Where to meet you?"

"Restaurant near the boutique. Be fast," he hoped he had kept the urgency out of his voice. He failed miserably.

If he could smirk, he would have. Pakkun nodded. "Sure thing, pal. See you soon." He trotted off in search of the usual flowers he would pick for Kakashi. The man needed to be schooled in the art of flower picking. It was pathetic – the lengths he would go to for the kunoichi. Yet, Pakkun somehow understood why. She was worth it.

With a sigh of relief, he turned and quickly weaved his way through the crowd. Already twenty minutes had passed. The flowers he had bought were combusted in flames when he was out of sight of the shop. He would not risk getting caught for not appreciating the flowers she had picked for him. It was probably a trick to get him into more trouble with said girlfriend. Whatever her sentiments were, he found it a relief not to know and was more overwhelmed to get back to Sakura's side. It was safer.

He looked around for any familiar faces in the rowdy restaurant. He saw a blond man, dressed in an orange shirt with black collar, beckoning excitedly at him to join them. He smiled, comforted that they were already there. Within five minutes he was seated next to Sakura and Genma. He let his eye take in the sight next to him. He grinned favorably. She was dressed rather casually, with a gray tank top and a pair of pink, flower-themed shorts that accentuated her lean legs. Gray and pink – perhaps it was a good sign?

"Where did you go just now, Kakashi?" Sakura asked him, inwardly pleased that he liked her outfit. She had dressed in such a manner as to let him know discreetly that she was willing to forgive him. Gray and pink – reconciled. She knew that he noticed her choice of colors.

Naruto tried hard to hold back his glee as he signaled to the other three men. They frowned at him, knowing that he had won after all. They made a mental note to be careful with him in future bets. Ino merely cast a questioning glance at Naruto, who responded with a mouthed, "Later." They all turned their eyes to Kakashi, awaiting his reply. They had theories as to where he had gone for the past half hour, and shared their thoughts while waiting for him.

Before he could answer, Pakkun had jumped onto his lap, facing Sakura, with a bunch of pretty flowers in his jaw. He turned to Kakashi, who gave him a piece of chicken meat after taking the flowers. With a brief nod of thanks, Pakkun disappeared in a swirl of smoke. Grinning sheepishly, he turned to Sakura and handed her the flowers.

She looked back and forth between his sheepish look and the flowers before bursting into a fit of giggles. She took the posy graciously. "Thank you, Kakashi. That's sweet of you."

He shrugged, though he could not help but be a little disappointed that he was only rewarded to that degree. He tried not to put on an injured look, but simply could not resist trying to pull her heartstrings to his advantage. Giggling again, she rewarded him with a peck on the cheek.

"Happy?" An eyebrow was arched as a playful smile was etched on her lips.

He nodded vigorously and kissed her cheek lightly. She rolled her eyes. He was acting like a five-year-old with an ice cream. He was more than happy now that they had made up, and did not care what the others thought of them. They knew very well that the two of them were friends. Though it seemed as though their friendship seemed more than just platonic.

As for the rest, Sasuke had managed to snap not just one, but _two_ photographs of them giving each other a kiss on the cheek. Friendly be damned – the single thought dominating the minds of their companions simultaneously. Ino was smug now that she had their work cut out for them. The two were in the most chronic stage of denial, dismissing any sort of liking or untoward feelings as just part and parcel of their companionable relationship. Naruto had to bite his tongue to keep himself from stuffing his fist into his mouth in laughter. Sasuke knew at that moment that he would never be able to get Sakura on date with him. Genma could only note to himself wistfully that he would now no longer be able to flirt freely with her again, for fear that her silver-haired _friend _hunt him down and beat the daylights out of him. Sai merely thought that they were fine specimens for his study of relationships between a man and a woman.

Sakura nudged the man beside her into the present situation, noticing the distant look in his eye. He smiled, his visible eye creased as he did so and then turned to the rest, unaware of their guilty looks, gesturing them to eat. Sakura rolled her eyes, but did not hold back the pleased smile on her lips as she began eating her meal. Kakashi fed himself with lightning speed as he paused now and then to reply to Sakura's musings.

Their friends kept their silence at first, as they enjoyed their meal, but soon engaged in casual conversation with each other. They forcefully relaxed themselves so that the two friends, now oblivious to their companions as they were engaged in an animated discussion, would not be mindful of their obvious display of affection for each other. After all, they gleefully reminded themselves, mission objective number four is fulfilled: to assess the boundaries of the Copy Nin and Cherry Blossom's relationship. They would set to work tomorrow.


	14. A Wild Animal

A/N: My _offer_ for a short story on KakaSaku still stands. For this chapter. Keep the reviews coming in!!!!

Thank-you's: _Rangerette, Alice001, DarkAngelXF, loverofallthingschocolate, Long-Live-The-Jessenator, In Search of Paradise, BlackDeath6_ - for your lovely reviews! They really kept me up till late at night just to finish this piece!!!  
_Amarretto, In Search of Paradise, 0.Rain.0, Long-Live-The-Jessenator_ - for putting me and this story on alert!!!!!!!!

Disclaimer: Naruto and Co belong to Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement intended.

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**Chapter 14: A Wild Animal**

Their weeklong vacation was coming to an end – much to their disappointment. In fact, it was the last day of the most laid-back holiday they have ever spent without having to worry about their lives back in Konoha. They had already packed their provisions for the journey home and spent the extra time that they had to just have a good drink at the pub – together. They had agreed to leave by late afternoon and it was only just late morning, which left them plenty of time to sit back and have casual conversations. They chose to enter a less crowded pub, and proceeded to sit at their own respective tables and also at the bar instead of sitting together. Yes, their relationship as a team had grown stronger but they do have their own favorite drinking buddies. So Sakura joined Ino at the bar, leaving her former sensei with his brown-haired jounin friend seated at a table somewhere near them whereas Naruto, Sasuke and Sai huddled together in a corner further away from the rest of them. The seating arrangements did not last long, however, and Sakura soon repositioned herself next to Kakashi, who – in turn – strongly hinted to Genma that three was a crowd by means of a painful nudge in the ribs.

"Mind if I join you?" She glanced sideways, her cup of sake in hand as she sat at the bar. Genma looked at her expectantly, his face devoid of the usual leer. She did not hesitate, knowing the exact reason why he was desperate enough to join her. She nodded and turned to face the bottles of sake in front of her, still silent. She really did not know what to do with him, considering that some two or three weeks ago he had seemed rather attracted to her – and showed it. But it was only some sort of a one-time chance, and she never saw much of it again since then. He had been giving her the warm treatment and also sometimes acted distant with her throughout their week in close proximity. She did not know what to make of it, really, except to respond accordingly whenever he had the mood to be genial with her and basically ignored him when he did so to her.

He let out a heavy sigh after ordering his own cup of sake. He kept his silence and drank his sake quietly, when it arrived minutes later, without making any sort of conversation with the blonde woman next to him now. He was not very sure about her – she was sometimes amiable, sometimes very flirty and other times treated him coolly. It was confusing for him, to say the least. He had tried approaching her throughout the week, only to feel snubbed after a while. Was his company that lackluster for her – he would wonder every night for the week before drifting off to sleep. He could not recall any woman, even Sakura herself, having such innate ability to confuse all his senses and knowledge of women altogether. Whether this piece of information thrilled or terrified him – he really could not decide. Perhaps it was a mixture of both. He glanced sideways at his friend, a sudden thought barging into his mind as he turned back to Ino who also had turned to look at the duo.

"He's an animal in bed, did you know that?" He said offhandedly, sipping his sake slowly as he awaited her reply. He made the remark on the basis that he wanted to test her buttons. Was she attracted to Kakashi, at all?

Her head spun round as she fixed a sharp gaze at him, as though wondering whether he was joking with her or not. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Back while you guys were still genin." He turned to her, a mischievous smile on his lips. Inwardly though, he was slowly disappointed with her reaction. She seemed interested.

"How'd you know that?" She peered at him curiously.

He waved his hand casually as he replied, "Oh, some of the most desirable women in Konoha could tell you that." He would have to be vague – considering that he did not have any names with him to casually mention to her.

She choked on her sake. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. They usually come crawling back for more, too." The bait was in. Would she take it in? He observed her closely, taking care not to look too interested in her response.

"What?" And she thought Sakura had hearing problems whenever Ino spoke against Kakashi.

"You heard me." He bit back his laughter. He had laughed out of relief – well, sort of. It was certainly a relief to know that at least there existed a female who was not in the least romantically attracted to his colleague – that was what he told himself. It was also a bonus fact that she was rather attractive too.

"No way." She shook her head vigorously, acting as though she wanted to get rid of the thought badly.

"Yes way." He might as well enjoy himself. She was just too cute to resist.

" I don't believe you," she replied vehemently. Was he for real?

"Yeah, well, you could always ask." He shrugged. "I'm sure they'll volunteer the information freely." He prayed to the heavens that Ino would not mention his name if she did take his word on it.

"Why would they do that?"

"Because he chooses them according to his particular taste." He lifted his eyebrows. "It'll sort of be like an honor kind of thing. You get me?" He found himself disgusted with that conclusion. Really, was his brain becoming mush?

"Ew. That's gross."

"Says you. They'd say otherwise." His brain _is_ already mush.

Her lips curled in disgust as she rolled her eyes. Was he really that good as he said? Besides, why was he volunteering the information?

"Why are you telling me this?" She narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

He shrugged and grinned. "I don't know. Maybe you could let this fragile piece of information slip to your pink-haired friend over there." He jerked his head subtly in Sakura's direction. He did not tell her that it was also for his own use. Well, her kunoichi friend could definitely benefit from the information after all. They too would be able to derive some sort of entertainment out of it.

Ino took a quick glance at her and then turned back to him. "Right," She said finally, after a moment's pause. "Give her some sort of an idea what a sex maniac he is?"

"No. Just being helpful with her imagination, that's all. I just thought we should get this done and over with." So he could get it on with her next. Oops, where had that thought come from? He could almost hear the alarms going off in his head, warning him the effects of such thoughts to his consciousness.

"What?"

"Huh?"

"What is the 'this' that you want done and over with?"

"Matching them up, making them realize that they want each other as badly as other people do." Well, he was always the one who could think when put on the spot. Unfortunately, this would not be a moment to boast to Kakashi or anyone else for that matter. It would just lead to more complicated things. Damn, he could almost believe himself too.

"Other people?" An amused smile crept up her lips. "You mean, you?"

"Sasuke. I'm just in it for the ride, okay?" He replied in mild annoyance – he could not help it. "He should put a stop to Gai's student's incessant pleas to get on a date with her. It grates our nerves once Gai brings it up and funnily enough, he doesn't even bother to stop the crap he's spouting out for that boy's sake."

"You're too harsh on Lee. He's just smitten, that's all." She giggled; he smiled. She was surprised to hear herself defending Lee like that, and was amused with herself. He thought she looked cute when she giggled.

"Right. For what, ten years?" He rolled his eyes. "He should take heed of the saying about more fish in the sea." He scoffed. As long as the fish was not Ino, he added – in his thoughts, of course. "Besides, it's like Kakashi's the only guy in her life… so why waste time?"

She nodded and maintained her silence. "How'd you know he's an animal?" She asked after a long deliberation.

He observed her for a while before replying. She seemed genuinely curious, and not out of romantic infatuation too. "You could see that from the way he acts on the outside, you know." He waggled his eyebrows as though he was challenging her.

"How?"

"What does a playful puppy like to do?" He paused, gauging her expression. Her expression was blank, clearly waiting for him to elaborate. "Watch for yourself – see any similarities of him and a playful pup. Then you'll know what he's capable of."

She took his word for it and shifted her seat so she could get a view of her friend and her former sensei, without being noticed by either of them. Her eyes widened.

"Kakashi! Stop nipping my fingers!" Sakura struggled to admonish him as he wrapped a large hand over her wrist and tried biting the strawberry off her fingers.

He growled, earning a playful jab to the tummy. His grip slackened, but still firmly locked around her wrist. His growls soon turned to throaty laughter as he attempted to wrestle the little fruit from her with just his mouth.

"No! Kakashi, no!" Her beryl eyes glinted with delight, though she tried to sound displeased. She smacked his free hand that was making its way to her tummy. "Bad boy!" She giggled, feeling silly for the moment that she was talking to him as though handling a naughty pup.

He did not attempt to make any intelligible talk, save for the occasional growling and some deep rumbling he managed to muster. He snarled, but the effect was useless on her – with his inscrutable eye gleaming in mischief and the corners of his mouth turned up into a flashy grin. He would have licked her, but that meant he would have to take off his mask, which was something he would rather not do in public. Instead, acting out his 'puppy' tendencies became his priority. As though to redeem himself, he nuzzled his nose just below her ear, making cute whining sounds as he did so.

She laughed, amused by her companion's bizarre acts and played along – by tousling his hair. His whining turned into a soft growl, and with almost inhuman speed caught Sakura's wrist in his mouth. Needless to say, she was caught off guard and her shock registered on her expressions. She quickly regained her sensibilities however and shook off her hand gently. When he finally could not hold onto her hand anymore and let go, he glanced at her with an injured look. Laughing, she stroked his cheek with her thumb as her free hand came to rest on his left cheek. She leaned closer to him.

He followed her example and inclined forward. They could feel each other's even breath on their faces now and both closed their eyes. The corners of her lips twitched as she maneuvered her head around to accommodate him. His hands were now on her waist, gently but firmly pulling her closer as he too tilted his head slightly to the side. They felt a soft pair of lips pressed against the spot very near their lips. The two pulled back at the same time, opening their eyes and met each other's gaze.

The pair sitting on the bar stools now felt their mouth had gone dry after watching, for a very brief while, the lively interaction between the two. Even Genma was shocked to silence, his senbon now in one hand because his mouth had been wide opened for too long. Ino tugged on his sleeve, signaling him to turn their backs on the two, not trusting herself to be conscious for the next time they put on the act. He complied and for a long time, neither said a word. Their lips were parched, but neither could stop their trembling hands that were holding their drinking glasses steady enough to be brought to their lips. Their breaths and erratic heartbeats soon evened, the tremors in their hands disappeared as they greedily drank in their respective drinks. Still not a word passed between them – both were still trying to gather their thoughts together.

Ino cleared her throat, directing Genma's gaze from his cup to her.

"What is it?" He asked her, his voice hoarse.

"Sakura…" She could not bring her voice any higher above a whisper.

"Why?" He cast her a puzzled look.

Her eyebrow furrowed as she broke the gaze and stared at her hands on her lap. After a brief silence of agonizing contemplation, she looked up. "Do you think she'll be great in bed too?"

He snorted. "She hasn't got any prior experience, has she?"

She shook her head and replied, "But if that's how Kakashi acts… then Sakura could be just as bad."

His eyebrows arched and he gaped a little. "You don't mean…"

She nodded.

As if on cue, they turned around again – momentarily forgetting the effect of their previous experience on their nerves – and were again stunned to silence.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, you want some ootoro?" He asked her in a goading tone. In his right hand, he dangled a piece of the said food. He chuckled as he watched her eyes glint at the sight of it and moved according to the sway of the piece of fish meat. She really looked greedy, though he really could not blame her for it – it was the last piece after all. He brought it nearer to his opened mouth, still keeping an eye – literally – on her.

The hungry twinkle in her eyes soon turned to one of righteous anger. She pounced at him, her fingers bent as though her nails had shot out of their sheaths, snarling like a cat as she did so. She threw all of her weight upon him, pinning him down on his back as she dug her sharp fingernails into his jounin vest. She swiped a hand to catch the food between his fingers.

A roguish smile crept up his lips as he pulled his arm away from her grasp.

She was now straddling him, both her hands holding on tightly to his arm that was attached to the hand holding the ootoro. She was not backing down without a good fight. She adjusted herself to move forward, her eyes still on the ootoro.

Taking advantage of her distracted thoughts, Kakashi put his hand on her hip rather casually, hoping not to warn her of his next move. She was still distracted. With his signature catlike agility and his natural strength that overpowered hers, he turned her around and was soon on top of her. He was the one straddling her now and his eye flitted over to her dazed expression.

"Sakura-chan's very naughty, ne?" His voice dripped with smugness.

She narrowed her eyes, baring her teeth as she hissed at him. "Ootoro!"

He let out a deep chuckle as he held the ootoro just above her ready mouth. "No, Sakura, I'll feed you," He chided gently when her head moved up to capture the meat in her mouth. She leaned back onto the couch. His other hand rested on her forehead, stroking her head gently as he gazed at her in pleasure. "Good girl." He lowered his hand and let her eat the ootoro out of his hand, his eye locked in fascinated gaze on her mouth as her tongue licked the remaining gravy on his fingers.

Both her arms wrapped around the back of his neck as she pulled him closer. He did not attempt to resist. They were now in the same position as before, with only a tiny distance separating them physically. She brought herself up to close the distance and nuzzled her nose against the crook of his neck, purring gently as she did so.

He sat back properly, his hands placing themselves on her back to support her. He pulled her closer. She broke away abruptly when he did that, catching a look of disappointment flitting across his face. To placate him, she licked the exposed part of his face, and leaned back to see the fabric of his mask creased up. He was smiling sweetly now, and awarded her with a quick peck on the tip of her nose. She purred again and leaned forward into his embrace – this time, to stay there until they were both satisfied.

Their two other companions turned slowly to face each other. Their minds reeled as they strove to gather their wits together, especially after witnessing such… questionable conduct on their _conservative_ friends' behalf. Well, at least now they would have to tell the Hokage that they should, at the very least, change the notion that the two were conservative. They should now be labeled as "_supposedly_ conservative" – to benefit the onlookers who could very well pass out from watching them without warning.

This time, Genma spoke first. "Um. You wanna write the report to Tsunade-hime?"

Ino kept her silence for another moment. "Together?" Her eyebrow arched, wondering if perhaps she could use their time together to her advantage as well. At least she could kill two birds with one stone.

He grinned, wondering vaguely if he was the only one thinking of using their quality time to the fullest. "Sure." He shrugged, trying to act casual, "You might need a fact-checker and all that."

She grinned too, her eyes briefly glancing at the pair on the couch who were still in their embrace. "Yeah, I could use some help." She was relieved that he seemed interested enough to spend time with her.

Needless to say, Tsunade-sama and Shizune had a few good rounds of celebratory sake the night they read the _actual_ report of the 'mission'.

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Hope you liked it, anyways... a few points to note: 

**NO - **Kakashi and Sakura fooling around like a puppy and kitten are **_not_** any sort of _sexual_ implications. I know a puppy is a domesticated animal, but heck, I have creative licence here.

Any other opinions, please feel free to press the blue button below at the lower left corner of this page. Or no Chapter 15 for you. ahahhahaha... -evil cackle- Just j/k tho. Really, I'd really like to know what you think about this chapter because to me, **Kakashi's a bit OOC - don't you think so? **Thanks in advance and 'see' y'all in a month's time!

Update: (27/10/07) - I'll remove this once the next chapter is up ... which will be up in **_December_**. Like I said, I have major exams coming up, and it ends on the 30th of November. So I need time to write _Chapter 15_ which will be **up** approximately within the _first week of December_. This is the _last_ chapter until that time.


	15. A Death of A Close Friend

**Chapter 15: A Death of A Close Friend**

Her ponytail swished from side to side as she jogged up the pavement. She turned into a corner to reach the staid-looking building. She took a moment to catch her breath, her hands clutching her chest as she willed her heart to even its rhythm. She panted, bending over to make it easier for her to breathe in. She had stopped in front of a sturdy paneled door, dawdling for a moment as she wondered if she would be wanted around the place. Making up her mind, she turned the doorknob and walked down the hallway to the elevator.

His apartment was on the thirteenth floor, she reminded herself as she pressed the correct button. It took her a few seconds before she reached the said floor. Her feet would have taken her straight to his apartment if she had used this way all this while, but it did not. After all, being a medic-nin and his would-be personal nurse made her use the rooftops as her road and his balcony as her entrance. She remembered vaguely that he lived in Apartment 1304.

She smirked faintly at the thought of his apartment number. He certainly did go to lengths just to procure an eccentric reputation for himself. Fancy having such numbers for his apartment number. Perhaps, knowing just how _frugal_ he was, he had managed to obtain the apartment at a very bargain price – thanks to its unlucky number that superstitious folk would avoid. She walked down the west wing, wondering for a moment just how big his apartment was. It could perhaps rival the size of a penthouse in a cheaper location, considering that he lived in a high-security apartment building, which certainly would have slightly-richer-than-average occupants in it. Ah. There it was.

Her hand lifted to knock on the wooden door, but she paused in midair. She bit her lip, her eyebrows furrowed as she hesitated for a few moments. Would she be welcomed? After all, he had not come looking for her since they left after the debriefing of their vacation-mission. Speaking of vacation, she did not recall him acting so taciturn with her during that entire time, nor did she remember him trying to keep a distance with her. So why exactly was he avoiding her? She took a deep breath, shaking all negative thoughts away and proceeded to knock on the door.

The door creaked open in less than two minutes. In the doorway stood her mission partner, a silver-haired jounin wearing a mask that covered the bottom part of his face and a lopsided hitai-ate covered his blood red eye. He stared blankly at her, though his visible eyebrow was arched in surprise. He did not say a word, she observed, which was highly unusual of him when obviously there had not been any friction occurring within their working relationship or otherwise. On any other given day, be it pain-free or pain-filled, he would greet her with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. What was wrong with him? She decided to put on a carefree façade and put aside those thoughts for the time being.

"Hey, Kakashi." She grinned and waved a bento box in his face. "I brought you lunch!"

He shrugged, though the lack of creasing in his mask showed her that he was still not smiling. His face was impassive, she observed, so he really was not upset that she showed up. Perhaps he was just tired, she told herself rather guiltily. Maybe she should just hand him the food and leave. Still not a word came out from him, though he stood aside to make way for her to get through. At least he allowed her to come in instead of asking her to leave. Maybe he was just too lazy to speak.

She fidgeted a bit and shook her head. "No, it's okay. You're tired, so I'll just leave the food here." She held out the bento box to him, waiting for him to take it from her.

He merely stared at her then at the box, before shaking his head. To make sure she did not protest, he pulled her gently through the doorway into his hallway.

"But you're tired!" She protested, her eyebrows knitted, showing her concern.

His mask creased a little, though it looked to her as though he was pursing his lips. He looked serious. She wondered what exactly had made him this distraught to the point that he was speechless, even to her! He took the bento box graciously from her hand, with a nod of thanks and set it down on the table. She watched him expectantly as she perched herself on an armrest of the couch nearby, tilting her head sideways as she gazed at him.

"What happened, Kakashi?"

He did not reply, and merely set the box of food in front of him. He was not ignoring her though, for he had glanced at her momentarily after she asked him. He shrugged instead of offering a definite answer, and walked off with a wave of his hand to tell her that she was free to do whatever she wanted to do. She frowned at his slouched back as he went into his bedroom without a backward glance at her. Her frown soon turned into a thoughtful look of concern. She had noticed a different gait in his walk – it was sluggish, and he was dragging his feet about. His eye seemed even droopier than usual – was it puffed? She thought she could hear an audible click in her mind. Was he having a bad case of flu? She quickly walked to his room but only got as far as the entrance before she stood stock-still. He had his shuriken-patterned comforter up to his neck as he curled himself up into a fetal position. His eye was on her, but he made no move to shoo her away or even invite her to stay. She opted for the latter. She flung herself onto him, straddling him and pressing the back of her hand onto his forehead. No rise in temperature, she noted.

He stopped her from uncovering his hitai-ate by grabbing her wrist and holding it gently in his hand as he watched her. She felt uncomfortable with his staring, and dropped her gaze to his chest. He was still breathing normally as she watched his chest rose and relaxed at a regular pace. He sat up suddenly, his hand still wrapped around her wrist, causing her to look up at him with a puzzled glance. Without a word, he pulled her closer to him and enveloped her in a hug. She could only allow herself being held in close quarters, although it was uncomfortable in her position, without letting out any signs of protest.

He nuzzled his nose against the crook of her neck, a finger drawing circles on her shoulder blade – making her shiver slightly. His hug became tighter as soon as he felt her shivering. She squeezed her arms out from under his arms, and returned the hug, clutching him tightly.

Something about the strange way he was acting told her that he was looking for comfort, and he was looking for it from _her_. Though of course she still wanted to know the exact reason why he was doing this. It was unusual for him to do so, and to be honest; it was the first time he had done something remotely close to exposing his emotions to anyone, let alone her. She came to a vague conclusion that he certainly would not confide in Genma; though the latter was older than him he certainly was not wiser. He would have sought out Kurenai, if the lady could even spare him some time besides caring for her child. If Asuma were still alive, he would have gone to him too. Iruka was busy with the Academy. Naruto and Sasuke were totally out of the question – both were incapable of giving solid emotional support or sound advice. That left him with the only possible option besides his trusty Pakkun – Sakura.

She supposed that it was because they had grown attached to each other. She was well aware that he was rather fond of her – it was something that she had observed from the way he treated her. He knew the exact moment when her cravings would attack and bought exactly what she wanted. Other times he would offer to massage her and relieve the kinks and knots in her muscles. He would even drop by whenever she was at work, just to accompany her after some particular meetings with the patients' families gone wrong. He was so sweet and thoughtful that she sometimes wondered if perhaps he _could_ be smitten with her. Yet, she always found a reason or another to _not_ entertain such thoughts – it could turn out into a huge mess afterwards, thanks to her imaginative mind.

Being one who was easily touched by small sweet gestures of his, she reciprocated. She insisted that she was made his partner on missions – keeping him on schedule as closely as possible, patching him up whenever he sustained an injury and basically to keep him company so he would not indulge in other forms of entertainment that unattached male shinobi were wont to do on solo missions. She knew that his only guilty pleasure was reading those infernal books of his, which she had conceded was one of the few vices that she was actually comfortable with. She certainly did not want to be partnered with a man like Genma – always looking for opportunities to having female companions for the night – that was plain unbearable, not to mention disgusting. She would come over to cook at his place after they had finished their sparring sessions. Of course, she insisted on not learning how to cook his favorite dish, arguing that she would totally be wrapped around his finger if she ever did learn. She would award him with a peck on the cheek after every single sweet gesture that he made. It was only fair.

He leaned back, and she did the same. He brushed aside a few stray strands of hair on her forehead, and pressed his masked lips over her forehead gently. She kept her silence, not knowing what to make of his odd actions. As he broke away from the kiss, her eyes stared intently into his, catching a foreign look of _regret_ in place of his mischievous glint in the eye. Her anxiety grew, and she brought up a hand to his cheek. He leaned his face into the palm of her hand, breaking the gaze. She frowned, concerned over his unusual reticence.

"Kakashi, what's wrong?"

For a very, very brief moment, he looked up at her. He turned away soon after that. She heard a mumbled apology, and nodded in acceptance. He pulled away and fell back onto his bed, his face turned away from her. She took it as a sign of dismissal, and clambered out of bed awkwardly. She was not angry nor upset with him, for she had not encountered him this distressed before and so, was not quite sure what to do with it. She looked back at him, and sighed. He had closed his eyes, obviously trying to forget whatever it was that made him like that in the first place. She looked around the room – taking into view the clothes dumped into a laundry basket, scrolls under the rest of the furniture and on the table and orange books arranged haphazardly on a small bookshelf. The least she could do for him would be to help him straighten the place out, she decided as she left the room stealthily.

She headed straight for the kitchen, stopping at the doorway when she heard soft whining coming from a corner of the kitchen. She treaded carefully, peering at the corner – only to see a small puppy's back facing her.

"Pakkun?" She whispered.

The pug turned around and stared at her. "Yo." Even his greeting was a bit sad.

"Are you all right?" She asked; her voice tinged with apprehension.

He nodded towards a potted plant with wilted leaves that was behind him, and turned back to her. "Ukki-kun…"

"Ukki-kun?" She came closer to get a better look. It was dead. "Is that why you're crying?"

Pakkun nodded, and stared at the floor instead of looking up. "And to think of the time I invested in talking to it…"

"You _talk _to Ukki-kun?" She glanced back at the pug, fighting hard to keep the incredulity out of her tone.

"The Konoha Horticulture Monthly says that the plants do understand human speech, you know," he replied, staring defiantly at her as though to challenge her to dispute him.

Luckily, she did not. She knew better than to mess with the pug in his current state, knowing that he was not Kakashi's favorite nin-dog for nothing. "Oh. I see." She nodded in agreement, knowing that it was a safe move. "How did it…?" She glanced at the plant.

He turned to Ukki-kun. "We were too busy to water it… no one else comes over to water it."

"We?"

He looked pointedly at her. "We – Kakashi and me. He does the watering; I do the talking. Team effort," he added rather reluctantly – she noticed.

"So Kakashi's upset? Because of Ukki-kun?"

He grunted. "He should be."

"Oh." She understood now. Kakashi was in the _doghouse_ with Pakkun – thanks to Ukki-kun. _What an ironic situation_, she thought in amusement. At least she knew exactly why he was upset. It was not because of Ukki-kun… but Pakkun himself. Well, she ought to do something about it, she decided. "I, uh, better get going." She retreated cautiously, wondering for a moment if Pakkun knew what she was about to do.

He merely turned back to the plant and ignored her.

She quietly and quickly made her way back to Kakashi's room. He was still in bed, though he was now sitting up. He looked at her blankly. A small smile playing on her lips, she crawled onto his bed and sat on his lap. He arched an eyebrow in surprise. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him close, her lips brushing against the exposed part of his forehead. She felt his arms around her, his fingers digging into her waist as he pulled her close and rested his chin on her shoulder. She smiled faintly, clutching him tight.

"I understand," she whispered softly, knowing that he would hear her.

He did not make any movement, save to shift his arms a little so it would be more comfortable for her.

A small, four-legged figure stood in the doorway, smirking at his silver-haired owner. He really wished that he could roll his eyes, but could not. A smirk would suffice then.

His owner merely winked at him, dismissing him now that he had gotten the pink-haired lady in his embrace.

Pakkun read his thoughts easily. Sakura certainly would not mind staying with him for as long as he wanted – even for the night. Kakashi really was a sly old fox, though he actually was a sly _and_ possessive old fox, he corrected himself. He shook his head as he trotted out of the door, leaving the two behind. Sakura would never be able to shake him off, at this rate. He glanced sideways, looking for a rubbish bin to dump the plant he held in his mouth. The man even had the cunning to use a _fake_ Ukki-kun to draw out Sakura's softer side to his advantage. Though sometimes his attempts went awry like: whenever she was mad, he would send Pakkun over to her as a peace offering, hoping to get her into a jovial mood once more. No such thing, as she was just as stubborn as he was when it came to admitting defeat. Though Pakkun had to admit – the man had the guts and the cunning to pull it off with a master flourish. There was no way she would be able to save herself from getting emotionally attached to Kakashi now. No freaking way.

Then again, he pondered a bit more carefully, from the looks of it, she did not seem to want to avoid getting attached to him. Of all the times when he had seen them together, she weaved her way into Kakashi's soft spots as though she owned the rights to do so. She treated him to dinners and lunches, just to get him to accompany her. Pakkun knew just how calculative she was. She would even flirt with Genma if that meant getting Kakashi to admit he was wrong, apologize, and come crawling back to her whenever they had their quarrels. He could read her emotions well, and was pleasantly surprised that she did learn a thing or two from Kakashi about safeguarding one's emotions. Unfortunately, she could not lie – not to Kakashi or any of her friends. That, he supposed, was her only drawback. Her ill temper, in Pakkun's opinion, had certainly been well taken care of – courtesy of Kakashi's placating skills. Of all the things he knew about her, he sometimes wondered if Kakashi was aware of her inner scheming to wrap him around her finger – probably not, on second thoughts. What a woman.

He shook his head again. The two were really messing with his mind. One sly fox with an equally shrewd vixen equals a major migraine for Pakkun, he decided; and disappeared off in a puff of smoke to tell the other nin-dogs. Perhaps they could help him figure out ways to get those two together as soon as possible. Kami knows just how much Pakkun really wanted a break from their silly roundabout courting games. It was taking a toll on his mating efforts.

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_naruto-ddrchamp, deformed beauty, Mystic Spirit Angel, BlackDeath6, findingtokyo, Rangerette, Alice001_ - thanks so much for the reviews!!! Keep them coming!!! 

**A/N:** Okay, so I changed my mind. _This_ is my **last** chapter before I go on hiatus. I just couldn't keep it off my mind. I had to write it. I just had to. Anyway, I've made a few corrections. So now: Sakura does know how to cook, just not Kakashi's favorite dish - for reasons I have already explained: Broiled saury. Though I have no idea what is a saury... anyway, I'll find out soon enough. I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and please do let me know what you think about it. Next chapter would come... sometime in December, considering the fact that I'm **_finally_** stucked. Yeah. So this one... Enjoy your time reading it. By the way, do send me _**review**_. Don't make me grovel (wait. I can make Kakashi grovel. Hah!) I want to know what you think of this so far... "Am I telling more than I am showing?" And I just want to know how the whole "seeing kakasaku through other people's eyes" thing is with you...


	16. A Family Heirloom Lost

**Warnings: **Kakashi's point of view - bound to be perverted, if you have been reading Icha Icha.

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**Chapter 16: A Family Heirloom Lost**

His eye devoured the words written before him whilst his legs kept their leisurely pace as he walked down the streets. It was a Sunday morning – sunny, beautiful, busy and noisy – in Konoha village. He had just dropped by the hospital not long ago, to fetch a friend whom he knew had been up all night completing her medical responsibilities. His arm reached out instinctively, pulling his companion closer by the shoulder as they came to a narrow road. He felt the body stiffen – that was unusual, he realized, but thought nothing much of – though he nonchalantly let his arm slung over her shoulder. After all, she had gotten used to this sort friendly physical show of affection from him, so why would she think it would be a one-time occurrence only anyway?

He reached a familiar stretch of stalls, and from the smell of it, he too knew that the candy stall was already there. He brought his companion to a stop in front of the stall, his hand digging into his pocket to get some change.

"Hello, Kakashi-san."

"Good morning, Tanazaki-san."

"Two for Sakura-san? As usual?"

"Yes, thank you," he replied politely and gave a brief nod.

He took the dango and passed it on to Sakura, who accepted it with a slight hesitance. His arm now continued its rest on her shoulder, as he firmly brought her next to him as they continued their walk. Not a word of thanks came out from her, like she normally would say, though he dismissed it. It was expected, for someone who worked long and late night shifts to be perhaps very tired and in need of a good long rest. He decided that he would take her to his apartment, where he knew she would take pleasure in the comfort of his bed instead of her messy apartment – which reminded him that he was supposed to clean it for her.

His eye was still on the book; his mind too absorbed in reading the adult literature – as he fondly called it, much to Sakura's annoyance. His fingers however, began twirling the strands of her hair into curls.

"Hmm, Sakura-chan." He waited for her to acknowledge him. She merely turned to him; he saw from the corner of his eye. "Your hair is rough. Are you getting it done before our next mission, as usual?" He let out a chuckle.

Instead of the usual retort he expected from her, she kept her silence.

He was dumbfounded – as dumbfounded as only Sakura could make him. She seemed to never run out of ways to confound him, to awe him, and to puzzle him. Even now, her uncharacteristic aloofness was something he knew she had adopted from him. He never thought it was possible for her to be as cold as this. Then again, they had been on good terms before this, so he had not gotten the chance to experience her coolness. Now that he had the chance in his hands, he shuddered to think of the future times when he would also have to face it again. Sakura acting as cold (maybe colder) as Sasuke felt like snow in the middle of summer – unusual, unpleasant and should not happen ever again.

He had better shrug it off – which he did – as one of those rare times when her late shifts got on her nerves. She was probably too tired to talk or eat, judging from the uneaten dango in her hand. Insistently persuading Sakura into a conversation would only result in having an aggressive sparring session between them. Perhaps she would not mind if he took on her role of being conversational – if only it was for this one time.

"Heard Gai giving Lee some tips the other day," he gave a brief sidelong glance at her, "on asking you out on a date."

"Really?" Progress.

He nodded. "If he bothers you, feel free to let me know," he chuckled, "I wouldn't mind breaking every single one of his bones."

"I mind, Kakashi!" She glared at him.

He fixed an inscrutable stare at her. Honestly, he had not expected such energetic response from her. He was beginning to have doubts whether she was really tired or not. On most instances, she would have scoffed at him, doubting him on his offers to harm Rock Lee because she knew he would carry out such threats unless his target was Genma or Naruto. Was it that easy to use Lee as bait? He turned away, both from his thoughts and her.

"I thought you were tired," he said finally, after a long and uncomfortable pause. He could feel her stiffen even more, if it was possible.

"I am."

"Didn't know Lee was one of the ways to get you to talk," he countered calmly, though he did let some fake disappointment show through his voice.

"Offering to break his bones did," she replied, apparently annoyed that he misconstrued her intentions.

"Ah. Of course," he nodded, sounding a little relieved, "You might want to stay over at my place tonight."

"Why?"

"It's comfy." He smiled, his visible eye crinkling.

"Oh, okay." She turned to look at him, as though scrutinizing his expression.

He thought he saw a flicker of puzzlement flit across her features, but dismissed it as imaginary.

"I lost a family heirloom. I'm so worked up, so…" She trailed off, sounding very apologetic.

"Understood." Partly, actually. What he could not understand was how could such a loss affect her so bad as to lose some bits of her character? Had he been inconsiderate of her exhaustion, he would have asked her that question. He made up his mind to bring it up some other time – when she would be feeling better. He was not one to let such inconsistency to slip by him, if he could do something about it.

"Really?" She sounded too hopeful though. He felt his grip around her shoulder tighten a little bit unconsciously, wondering if perhaps that she was lying or hiding something.

"Yes. Would you like my help finding it?" He offered, despite his instincts telling him otherwise. It would be a good opportunity to dig out something, he reasoned.

"Yes, please," she accepted without much question.

That was unusual, he realized, since normally she would fret and fret about his own schedule until he would reassure her that yes, it was fine and dandy that he was convenient to help her out. He nodded anyway, though he could not help but wonder if perhaps she had suffered from a stress-related disorder. Unfortunately for him, that was the extent of their conversation. He was unable to decide for sure whether she was all right or maybe covering up for something. Was there something she wanted from him, but did not know how to ask? He decided finally that he would leave their talk at that, and not question any further. He was not sure if he could commit himself to any of her requests, especially if it was highly likely had something to do with her medical work – he had a nagging feeling that one of these days, her shishou would be asking her to do a research on his Sharingan.

The rest of their walk was spent in silence as he fought to keep his attention on his book, and Sakura seemingly attempting to stay awake. They came to a stop when they reached his apartment. Kakashi was a little relieved that they had finally reached their destination – it was unpleasant to walk with Sakura in such a mood. He had also realized just how annoying it was to walk with him in such a mood too, from Sakura's point of view. He did not know just how she felt about reaching his place, for she seemed a little distracted and stiff. He restrained himself from asking her what was wrong with her. It was best not to know. In fact, he already had doubts about letting her stay the night. Kami knows what she would do to him when she wakes up and not remember coming here – he shuddered slightly at the thought.

Kakashi fumbled around in his pockets to look for his keys, but could not find them. Wondering briefly if he had actually locked the door, he turned the knob. It was not locked – he had forgotten yet again to lock it this morning on his way out. He turned to Sakura, expecting her to give him a glare, like she normally would when she caught him not heeding her advice.

She merely stared at him with a blank expression, though her eyes stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to lead her in. Again, dismissing her aloofness fervently, Kakashi led her into the hallway and living room.

She gasped; he swirled around to see what was going on.

"It's so… nice," she finished weakly, staring with an awed expression at the simple furnishing of his living room.

He arched an eyebrow. "You've been here plenty times before."

"So?"

"Even spent some nights here."

"Those times were usually dark," she replied, after a slight hesitance.

"Only sometimes," he replied calmly, though he was holding back some incredulity.

"Never had the chance to take in the view, okay?" She sounded annoyed, though there was a slight tremor in her voice.

He shrugged, not really knowing what to make of the comment. It was implausible to him, especially because she was often around during the daytime to help him clean the mess. Sakura was the type to stop and smell the roses whenever she could, without hindering her current objectives – so he found her reason rather questionable, at least. She rarely marveled at his taste, instead opted for nagging at him just how messy it was sometimes and how dusty it was when he came back from missions.

He watched her back disappear into the confines of his room as he mulled over his doubts and threw his jacket on the couch.

A shrill scream came from his room. His crisis management skills kicked in, replacing his slow reaction. He sprinted to the room, a kunai in both hands, Sharingan primed for hypnosis or worse.

His eyes widened. Thoughts halted in his mind. Words got caught up in his throat.

There were _two_ Sakura staring at him, and back at each other. He pinched the bridge of his nose, pulling down the headband to stop his Sharingan. One Sakura was on his bed – her face flushed, her eyes widened, hair messed up and her clothes flimsy. He turned to the other Sakura nearest to him, only to find the familiar figure of a fellow jounin grinning sheepishly back at him.

They stared at each other in turns, the silence threatening to break and strangle them if they held back the questions any longer. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the man, wishing to the heavens that he could somehow twist his form and hurl him into another dimension with his Mangekyou Sharingan, but stopped short of doing just that. After all, he would not risk his neck by zapping the Hokage-to-be, Naruto into the next dimension.

He took a step forward, the kunai in both his hands already thrown onto the bed, his hands now readied to put a firm hold around his neck and squeeze them…

"Kakashi, wait!" Sakura called for him.

He did not turn around, but merely stop in mid-action. "Why should I?"

"I need you!" She pleaded, sounding breathless.

He turned around, his mind already interpreting her breathlessness in another different manner.

Naruto choked on his saliva, unable to ascertain her meaning in a proper manner.

"What's wrong?" His eyebrows were furrowed in concern, his feet still glued to the spot.

"It's urgent," she ignored his question, "I need it now!"

His eye widened, a cheeky reply stuck in his throat as he fought internally to keep a steel grip on his senses.

"Kakashi!" She half-snarled, half-yelled at him, snapping him out of his reverie. "I don't think it can wait anymore!"

His heart skipped a beat, his throat parched.

"I've put far back into my mind for far too long," she continued in her raised voice; he only wished that he could grip onto something at the moment, "and I want to do it right now!"

Was he dreaming? Sweet, sweet Kami-sama… he had better gotten a grip on himself.

"Now?" He asked finally, successfully eliminating traces of nervousness in his voice. He did not want to sound like an innocent schoolgirl, not at this moment, not in this situation.

"Yes, now!" She retorted indignantly, pulling him out of the room by the arm when she realized that he was, for some unknown reason, unable to move on his own.

"Where are we heading?"

"My place, of course!" She paused in her tracks, turning to a bewildered Naruto. She opened her mouth to say something, but seemed to decide against it and continued leading Kakashi out of the apartment. Naruto stared after them, before crumpling to the ground weakly. Sakura did not bother to rush to his aid; Kakashi was relieved, and they left him just like that in favor of Sakura's urgent matter.

He came back to his senses once again, relieved that while he was struggling to keep his self-control in check, he had managed to keep a cool exterior. Sakura was none the wiser with regards to his internal struggle. He reminded himself to give Naruto a good lecture on the more productive use of his harem jutsu, on a later date.

They were leaping off rooftops now, instead of walking, to save time and energy.

"What made you come to this point?" He dared himself to ask as he looked ahead.

"I think I lost it."

He nodded in acceptance, understanding how it was like to lose one's self-control and inhibitions after some time. At least now he knew that she wanted it as badly as he did. Who was he to judge her resistance anyway, when he too had found it increasingly difficult to stop himself from being affectionate with her physically nowadays?

"…I wish she didn't make me keep it until now," she was grumbling softly.

"Who?"

"My mother," she replied with some displeasure.

"What would she think if you lost it?" He asked; his interest already piqued.

"She won't need to know, would she?" She turned to him, her eyes glinting dangerously. "It's only between the two of us."

He nodded and smiled, his visible eye crinkling.

"I've been keeping it for some time," she continued, "just waiting for the right time, that's all." She shrugged. "After all, mom told me that it was high time that I gave it to someone."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"And you agree with that?"

"What can I do about it? You don't expect me to deny my mom, do you?"

He nodded, then asked, "What made you suddenly inspired to… you know?"

"A family friend's wedding is coming up, so mom made me think about it."

He was about to ask her how exactly did the conversation she shared with her mother go when she came to a stop. He followed suit.

"We're here," she told him, her head jerking towards the balcony door to her bedroom.

* * *

A/N: Well? What do you think? For your information, this is one of those difficult chapters... gah. Anyways, thanks to _deformed beauty, Alice001, kaoru.mitsui, Rangerette, okami no kidzukare, Mateba, naruto-ddrchamp, Mystic Spirit Angel, Mystic Spirit Angel, BlackDeath6, CharlotteHibiki, Goddess Psyche, Zebwa, BlondeKell_ for your support for this story!!!! Thanks so much!!! I love you all! 

_ShipperTrish, LadyInverness -_ for your support and reviews on the other drabbles collection: _Bits and Pieces of Us _... thanks so much!

_LadyInverness, Phloxic, Past The Point of Sanity, xlillypotterx, KakashiLuvR, Mississippi Queen_ - thanks so much for your support for the story _I'm Sorry !!!_

_sazysapphire, pink weasel_ - for putting me on alert and fave!!!

Anyways, if you enjoyed this fluffy fic so much... I guess I wouldn't mind promoting the other two stories I've written for KakaSaku... check my profile. Thanks so much!!!


	17. A House

**Chapter 17: A House**

A/N: The calm before the storm.

She turned around, her arm reaching out to push the balcony door open when another arm reached out from behind her and firmly set her arm by her side. She was about to turn her head around to ask her companion just what he thought he was doing when she felt her back resting firmly against his sturdy chest. Her heart skipped a beat, and she almost forgot how to breathe. She forced herself to look ahead, knowing very well that her cheeks were now very rosy with anticipation. She shifted a little, in hopes that she could slip out from under his arms, but he only tightened his grip to stop her fidgeting. She felt her small frame almost completely enveloped by his large physique and it was an alarming situation for her, though she felt strangely comforted. She relaxed herself into his hold, not daring herself to speak a word to break the moment.

Just as he started nuzzling his nose into her hair, she realized just how much she smelled with all her sweat and the dust that she pushed him firmly away. She turned around to meet a rather expressive gaze of his. Oddly for him, he seemed a little bruised that she physically rejected his advances. Wanting to make up for her abruptness, she brought a hand up to his face and his head leaned into her palm as she stroke his cheek with her thumb.

"I stink, you know," she told him fondly, trying to explain her earlier behavior.

"It gets better later, anyway," he said matter-of-factly, and shrugged.

"I'll just stink worse, not get better."

"And why's that?" She saw a strange glint in his eye, it was almost dark – the sort of darkness that scared her.

She rolled her eyes, and let her hand drop from his face and push open the door. "How can I smell better when I'm sweating and looking for something?"

"Looking for something?" She thought she heard a hint of realization in his voice, but dismissed it.

"Yes, remember? I was looking for it in your place because I thought I brought it over on one of those nights and because it would be easy to find in your house anyway," she rattled on, not noticing the uncharacteristic look of disappointment in his eye as he followed her into her room.

"What is it you're looking for?" He sounded somewhat apprehensive.

"A family heirloom, of course." She whirled around, her eyes narrowed as she stared curiously at him. "Didn't you know?"

"Naruto did mention something like that."

"Oh, he did, didn't he?"

"Yes. Well, while he was impersonating you."

"Hmm. Anyway, okaa-chan insists that I lend it to someone, and with Hatsumi's wedding coming up, I thought I'd better lend her my family jewelry."

She led him into the spare room, where a few boxes had been taken down and opened, while other boxes were still on top of the cupboards. She motioned for him to bring the extra boxes down and put them on the floor while she unpacked the others to search for the jewels.

"So it's just because of this that you need my help?" He asked carefully, not keen to let her know that he had thought of other nocturnal activities when she had asked him, as he took down the boxes and placed them near her.

"Yeah, why?" She stared at his back as he took down another box. "Is it too much to ask?"

He did not answer, but he did give a brief glance at her before resuming his task.

She frowned at him, the silence biting at her thoughts. He seemed guarded about something, and… Her eyes widened when she realized vaguely how she had misled him. "Sorry."

He turned to her, a little stunned. "What?"

"Sorry… I think I know what you were thinking back there."

He let his gaze drop to the box in his hands, unsure whether he should confirm her assumptions or not. "What was I thinking?"

"That I wanted to have you." She paused, embarrassed to continue but still did so despite herself. "In that way."

He decided to chuckle instead, but what came out was a choked cough. "That's all right," he assured her, after a few coughs.

With a slight nod, she turned back to her work in silence. He followed her example and resumed his task. He took down the last box and put it down before walking over to her.

"Would you wear the jewels?" He asked as he sat cross-legged next to her, opening the next box to find the said jewels.

"Hmm?" She looked up from an old, dusty photo album. "For what?"

"Your own wedding," he replied, taking out some period costumes gingerly from the box.

"Of course I would."

"Why?"

"It's economical."

He laughed. "Is money a problem for you?"

"Nobody's as rich as you are," she retorted.

"True," he nodded, and then chuckled.

She rolled her eyes at his smugness, closing the album shut and putting it aside as she took out a wooden box.

"Then why not marry me?"

Her head spun round at him, her eyes widened in shock and her mouth agape.

He glanced at her and winked, earning a slap on the arm as she quickly recovered from her initial shock.

She turned away from his gaze; her cheeks now flushed and warm as she continued her search.

Noticing the absence of her reply, his grin widened as he nudged her side gently. "Does that mean you accept my proposal?"

She was about to shoot him a glare then decided that she would fight fire with fire instead. She laughed and winked at him. "Maybe."

He chuckled, and stopped his teasing for the moment as he concentrated on his work.

She smiled triumphantly, glad that he was finally quiet and did not tease her anymore. On the other hand, she also felt a little worried that perhaps she had gone too far in answering him like that. For one thing, it did not sound like her at all. And for another thing, did he find her act a little clumsy and amateurish? She frowned slightly as she undid a knot. He seemed relaxed about it, so she figured that her reply was acceptable to him and not in bad taste. Was it? She also realized that he seemed a little more open with her when he teased her nowadays, and was not beyond using innuendos or romantic nuances with her. Was that also teasing, or perhaps mild flirting?

"Why do you flirt often with me nowadays?" She asked out loud, risking embarrassment with her question when she knew that he would still entertain her.

He arched an eyebrow, his visible eye twinkling as his mask creased to show that he was smiling. Was it amusement?

"You think I flirt with you?"

She blushed and nodded.

"Why?"

"The things you do and say – it's not regular teasing unless you're flirting," she explained.

He kept quiet, causing her to blush harder. Had she just embarrassed herself?

"Does it matter to you?" He asked, after a while.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, a puzzled look on her face.

He shrugged. "Do you find it uncomfortable, weird or bizarre flirting with me, your old, former sensei?"

She did not reply immediately, and mulled it over before saying, "None of that. It feels… normal."

He chuckled, but said nothing else as he opened the last box. She, on the other hand, did not realize that he had not answered her question as she turned her attention to the box.

"If it's not in there, I'm going to scream."

He took out a few soft toys, and it seemed as though the whole box was filled with bunnies and bears and the like. He turned to her expectantly.

She took a deep breath; he cringed, awaiting the ear-splitting scream she promised.

A sharp, searing pain surged through his arm as _he_ let out a loud yelp of pain. A single tear escaped from his eye, and he opened it to see teeth marks on his arm. He looked up at her.

She giggled; he growled. She reached out and patted his head; he glared. She kissed his cheek and then the source of his pain; his anger simmered a little. He slid a handcrafted jewelry box that he had taken out with the dolls to her, now knowing that his attempts at prolonging their time together was not successful.

"You found it!" She squealed in delight, and literally pounced at him and hugged him.

He laughed. "You'd better keep it safely now." He sniffed the air. "And get a shower."

She rolled her eyes, getting up to place the jewelry box in a proper place. "You stink as bad as I do."

"Speaking of which, I'd better get out of this too."

She turned around, only to see him already taking off his shirt. "You're going half-naked in my house?" She tried to keep her voice level, but it was hard to do so with him chuckling at her disbelief.

"It's hot in here, in case you didn't realize."

She took a deep breath, knowing for sure that it was useless to argue with him in that mood. She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Wow, it's morning already?"

He too glanced at the clock and then began putting the boxes away. "Hmm. Time waits for no man."

"You should take your own advice, old man," she quipped, before heading off to the bathroom.

Meanwhile, outside her cozy apartment, the morning market was in utter chaos. Food carts and stalls were upset and some suffered damages as a rush of blond, orange and black whizzed past them so fast that a passerby could hardly see the blur that was Naruto.

He swung open the door to the apartment building, not caring for anyone on the other side; pushed past angry tenants who were rudely woken up by the sounds of his heavy footsteps as he raced up the stairs. He came to a halt when he reached the apartment he was looking for. He panted softly; hoping the occupants inside the apartment would not hear him as he bent a little to try catching his breath. He strained his hearing to catch some giggles and muffled voices within the apartment, his eyes widening as he caught on to the conversation.

"Don't you think you should get dressed?"

"Why should I? I'll just get dirty again." A giggle.

A deep chuckle. "You're supposed to be at work, aren't you?"

"Yes, and I'm late."

"Thanks to me."

"Thanks to you."

Another chuckle. Then a yelp of pain. "Careful, my dear. It's sensitive to the touch there…"

Naruto cringed.

"How's this?"

A loud moan of pleasure. "Perfect. You have such nimble fingers, Sakura."

He closed his eyes, fending off the perverted thoughts in his mind.

"I do my best, Kakashi."

His eyes snapped open and he jumped back a little as he stared at the door, a stricken expression on his face. He wrung his hands, sorting out his thoughts before deciding to barge in on them. Yes, he would barge in. His hand reached out and slammed the door wide open.

He stared at the pair dumbly, his mouth shutting and gaping as he tried to form an apology but could not. Sakura stared at him in shock as her fingers paused their massage on Kakashi's neck. His former sensei, overcame his shock faster than them and had now a dangerous glint in his eye.

Oh, crap. He should have waited for Sasuke.

* * *

Thanks: _addicted2reviews, naruto-ddrchamp, cherryblossom94 , Selene98, beautyinsleep, BlackDeath6, Alice001, Rangerette, closetconspiracy, hannahsjf, Sunigirl, kaetea, Geminia, BrennaM, Zelha, karei uchiha, Arus, Emma0707, Dakomis Sebrof, DojomistressAmbyChan_ - thank you for your reviews and alerts!!!

A/N: A little favor I'd like to ask before this series ends... If you enjoyed the KakaSaku I've written, and would like to have some more fluffs, or angst on KakaSaku - please put **me **on alert. Seriously.


	18. A Natural Disaster

**Chapter 18: A Natural Disaster**

"Good morning, Kaka-sensei, Sakura," he greeted them, fighting hard to erase all traces of stammer from his voice. It would encourage their hidden (fuming) anger if he stammered. He stared pointedly at Sakura's state of undress - being wrapped in a towel was the same as being undressed to him - and received a vehement stare in return from his pink-haired teammate.

"Morning," his former sensei replied, his voice even though Naruto could guess that the older man was probably seething. He probably did not like Naruto staring at Sakura like that - he could only assume that.

Sakura, on the other hand, did not reply him. She stared at something behind him, her eyes narrowing gradually as the moment passed. Naruto was afraid to ask her just what she was staring at, so he settled for the silence that now was beginning to crawl under his skin.

"My, my, Sakura-san…" A sarcastic voice drawled, and Naruto let out a sigh of relief. At least he was not about to be beaten into a pulp alone this time.

"What's going on, Genma?" A rough voice asked from one end of the hall. A woman wearing a long coat and a mischievous grin plastered on her face greeted the couple within.

"Anko-san," Naruto greeted the woman, his voice timid. Judging from the glare Sakura was directing at him now, he was going to spend at least a week in the hospital if more people came by and decided to greet them.

"What are you all doing here?" Kakashi asked, his gaze resting on Genma.

He turned back to the half-naked man sitting in front of Sakura. Kakashi-sensei seemed very calm and collected indeed, without a trace of menace in his features at all. Then again, the mask was probably muffling his threatening tone and obscuring gritted teeth.

"I take it Kakashi-_sama's_ performance was fantastic last night, eh Sakura-hime?" Genma waggled his eyebrow, and chuckled. Naruto held back his laughter, though seeing Sakura's suspicious look thrown at him made him realized that his stifling was no use.

Naruto cringed, half-anticipating his life to flash before him like a movie just like it would when it was time for him to die. He was going to die a horrible, horrible death. The feral grin on Sakura's face was so malicious that he could almost see himself on the floor, beaten up beyond recognition. He stepped back slowly, his legs already turning to run down the stairs before anyone could catch him – until he felt the brown-haired man next to him held onto his collar firmly, preventing his only route to safety. Kami-sama, he was going to die.

Anko, on the other hand, knew Kakashi and Sakura well enough to know that it was time for her to make her exit. The idiot Genma was just digging his grave deeper than six feet. Baka. With a curt nod and solemn expression, she quickly made her way down the building. She would ask Genma later for the details.

Sakura laughed; Naruto winced. Her laugh was unlike the tinkling, melodious laughter he was so accustomed to hearing – it was more of a fiendish variety, the one often used by a villain just before they start killing the hero. Genma gulped, Naruto glared at him. The man had come to his senses way too late to turn back.

Kakashi, on the other hand, had gotten up and threw a shirt over Sakura's head, clothing her just before they begin beating the two clowns at the doorstep to near-death. His visible eye crinkled; making the two men at the door clutch each other and tremble in fear together.

"It was exemplary, Genma-kun," Sakura answered him, her smile as bright as the sun – nearly convincing him that she was actually a very nice and easily forgiving lady, instead of a woman after the Hokage's own heart who was capable of breaking every bone in his body and healing them too. "You should learn from him."

She approached them slowly, her curves swaying in all the right directions that Genma and Naruto found themselves helplessly swallowing their saliva as their gaze followed every sway doggedly.

They let their gaze trail up slowly from her shapely legs to her face, knowing for sure that they would not have such a chance anymore in their lifetimes.

She placed a hand each on their shoulders, her smile sweet and almost melting their resolve.

They could not help but smile back stupidly, but the smiles soon turned into cries of horror when they felt her small hands swing them both into the room. They shut their eyes tight, expecting a backbreaking fall and were pleasantly surprised when they felt that they were floating in the air. They let out sighs of relief, wiping away the cold sweat from their brows.

"That was close," Naruto commented lightly – only to be replied with a grunt. His eyes slowly turned to the man who now had them both by the back of their shirts. "Thanks, Kaka-sensei!" He laughed nervously, knowing that their ordeal was far from over. It had only just begun.

Naruto felt he snatched away roughly from Kakashi's firm grip, and was whirled around so forcefully to face Sakura that he felt his head spinning.

"Sakura-chan?"

His vision blacked out almost instantly. He felt his jaw slacken - he was quick to deduce that he would not be able to speak coherently. He knew that at least two of his ribs would break. His legs were too painful to move. He wondered as lightly as he could just how long he would stay in the hospital. Maybe a week, at most? Perhaps Sakura-chan was aiming for that too – his last thoughts just as he slipped into unconsciousness.

The last thought coursing through Shiranui Genma's mind as he too joined Naruto into the welcoming world of unconsciousness was that his last words were indeed memorable. No doubt that he would become famous because of that.

"Exemplary, huh?" Kakashi chuckled as he lifted the two unconscious men nearer to the door.

Sakura blushed faintly as she rolled her eyes. "What else could I say?"

"So I take it you're not bothering with explanations?" He was amused.

"Waste of my breath," she mumbled and headed off to get dressed. She was late for work and reminded herself to remember bringing the two idiots to the hospital for treatment.

Kakashi, on the other hand, smiled satisfactorily. Now Sakura's admirer problems would be solved – it was only a matter of time.

* * *

A/N: How do you like it? So far, most of you guys had hinted on how Naruto would be dealt with, so I had to modify the storyline a bit. I enjoyed writing just how Kakashi and Sakura worked together against the other two bumbling idiots. "Exemplary".

_CharlotteHibiki, Rangerette, Mateba, okami no kidzukare, hikomokushi, BlackDeath6, Selene98, deformed beauty, addicted2reviews, kaoru.mitsui, Zebwa, inuyasha's tennyo, Seras Serenity, Konoha's White Fang, kittmousie, anarchy101, DarkAngelXF, Battie-2170 - _thanks very much for your support.

For some teasers on the future fluff I am writing for KakaSaku... do go read "Fragments". Keep yourselves occupied while I mull over the next two chapters...


	19. A Bittersweet Kiss

**Chapter 19: A Bittersweet Kiss**

They had expected it all along – Kakashi more so than Sakura. After all, with such a misunderstanding of which Genma and Naruto had been unwitting witnesses and added with Sakura's surprisingly indifferent attitude regarding the matter, it was hardly a surprise when the advances of Sakura's more ardent admirers abruptly stopped. She had not received any love letters, confessions or the cliché red roses for about two weeks now, and was more than happy to live with widespread rumors that she was now Kakashi's lover because of that. She could devote her time to her work, training and of course, the man (or a grown-up child, as she called him) himself. Even Rock Lee and Shiranui Genma seemed to have sense some danger veiled by that crinkled eye on certain occasions in which they had attempted to ask her out for a casual outing and so they had retreated, tail between their legs so to speak.

As for Kakashi, he was very, very contented that her admirer problem was now controlled and also because she could spend more time with him – minus her working hours. In fact, he had such a great time playing the double entendre game with Sakura whenever they had company, which in turn reinforced preconceived notion that the two were very intimately involved. Sakura had played along, much to his delight, and so far had become rather creative with her own comebacks that he found himself returning home for a cold shower just so he could get his attraction to her out of his system. He sometimes could not help but feel proud that she had grown to be a witty woman, and knew that his company was to be credited for such an improvement in her character.

Unfortunately for the both of them, Ino decided that she was going to try out the nagging feeling in her conscience just to see if she was right. She knew something was amiss the moment Naruto told her about the incident (as soon as he was discharged from hospital) but dismissed it at the time because she thought she had better trust Sakura to tell her about her relationship with Kakashi at her own pace. So far, her dear friend had neglected such task, and even with some prompting and digging from Ino, still did not want to admit to anything. She knew Sakura well enough to know that she was a bad liar and if she could not lie but still had to protect her own interests, she would not admit at all and be more secretive. That was Sakura, then and now. So, after wasting time convincing Naruto and Genma that it was worth a try to pry the information from both parties, they set to work.

Genma had to go through his strategy a few times just to make sure he was very subtle in gathering incriminating information from Kakashi. When he put his skills to use, Kakashi was as nonchalant as ever. He pestered him more openly after three tries, but still could not catch the man off guard at all. So their little game of hide-and-seek went on for about a week before he decided that it was just best to give up after all and left the rest of the troublesome job to the other two.

Meanwhile, Ino and Naruto decided to team up against Sakura since they both knew that together, they could annoy the hell out of anyone into admitting a secret. Besides, Sakura had little patience compared to Kakashi and she was more readable than the man. It would take some time, but at least they did not need to worry of the outcome – she was sure to tell them the truth in the end.

"Come on, Sakura-chan! Just tell us already!" Naruto resorted to whining – it had been about two weeks already, and it was a long record, even for Sakura.

The pink-haired lady just rolled her eyes and went on writing her report. Naruto had again brought Ino with him to see her this time, and she knew that they had planned it all along. Logic kept her sane and controlled, although she wanted to pull her hair out and scream at them that nothing was going on and would they now please leave her alone?

"Come on, Forehead! We all know you keep your mouth shut when you don't wanna lie," Ino sneered at her.

"I'm going to go to the market, so it's best that you stop waiting for the sky to fall and get your butts home," she retorted as she flicked a finger in the door's direction. She got up, rearranged her documents and took her pair of gloves with her as she made a move for the exit.

"We're coming with you," Ino said decisively, knowing that two weeks was about enough time to make the wires in her friend's mind fray to the point of snapping. It was Sakura-ism.

She did not reply, and walked on. She felt her migraine pounding on her brain cells, knowing that she had not had any migraine since about the last time she had too much sake to drink – and that was about a month ago. If they would not stop the whining anytime soon, she would strangle them.

"So, Sakura-chan, don't you find having … er, doing Icha Icha with Kakashi-sensei a little weird?" My, Naruto certainly had a very new question for her.

"Well…" She knew it was more appropriate to say 'yes', instead of a 'no', but somehow, "No."

"Why not?"

"I don't know," she replied, a little relieved that she could answer honestly this time.

"But, but… Knowing that he's older, and far more experienced… doesn't it bothers you that he's been with other women before?" Naruto certainly sounded very innocent and childish as his voice rose a pitch higher – as though he was asking his mother an embarrassing question.

"How'd you know he's been with other women before?" She suddenly snapped. She could never imagine him with anyone else, much less have had sex with other women as well.

"Are you so naïve?" Ino rolled her eyes. "Surely he's not a virgin – he's probably done it for several recon missions!"

Sakura glowered, unable to bite back with a cutting remark.

"Er, can't you tell by the way Kakashi-sensei does it with you?" Naruto tried to remedy the situation. He had learnt from Tsunadebaa-chan about prying the information from Sakura and was not about to let Ino's short temper ruin his well-established line of thought (well, it was actually Shizune-neechan who suggested to Tsunadebaa-chan who then suggested to him).

"Does what?" She asked quietly – a sure, but subtle sign that her temper was about to explode now.

"Sex… we were talking about sex, idiot!" Ino rolled her eyes again, apparently annoyed though she was hiding her presumptuous gloating.

"How should I know? It's not like I've ever had any sexual contact with him!" Sakura yelled at her, her fist already swinging to punch her friend hard but missed when Ino ducked just in time.

And they scored. Big time. Ino and Naruto gave each other a high five, laughing madly because they had finally extracted the information from her.

Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath, knowing now that she had been duped. It must have been her shishou who taught Naruto to question her, looking back on how he had subtly managed to lure her into Ino's last biting line. Maybe she should just put off the grocery shopping for now and get a drink or two at the pub. If she was lucky, she could probably bring Kakashi to go with her for shopping too. She took a left turn instead of walking straight ahead, not caring if the two clowns were going to follow her.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled above the din.

Some turned around, some just went about their business. Kakashi looked from his book, about to lift a hand in acknowledgment until he noticed the withering stare Sakura shot at Naruto and the way that Ino seemed to be gloating.

"You're a good liar, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto had come over and slapped him hard on the back in enthusiasm.

"Huh?"

His other colleagues turned around, intrigued by Naruto's rather unexpected revelation.

"Sakura-chan said nothing happened!" He laughed. "Well, not exactly her words, but she admitted that you guys aren't doing each other at all!"

He knew he should have put that purple dye in Ino's hair shampoo when he had the chance. Trying to keep up his appearance, he shrugged casually and promptly ignored Naruto to read his book. To say he was a little disappointed with the fact that he can't play any more games was an understatement.

"Ha, take that you old dog!" Genma laughed derisively, a little relieved that the entertainment was now at Kakashi's expense. He was soon joined with Anko, Raidou and some other jounins that Kakashi knew rather well as they laughed when Naruto explained to them how he had managed to trick Sakura into admitting it.

As for the lady herself, she had quickly moved away from the conversation and instead joined Ino at another table with their other friends. Now that the cat was out of the bag, it was inevitable that Lee restarted his advances on her; Sakura instantly regretful of her actions earlier. She was disappointed with herself that she was not patient enough, or at the least resistant to Ino's wiles. The migraine she felt coming was driving her up the wall, coupled with Lee's incessant dating suggestions. Fortunately for her (and him), Naruto had called him away to join him at the bar with the other jounin. Her fortune soon faded however, when the girls started their conversation revolving around her. Did they really have to talk about it?

"Hey, Sakura, I've been meaning to ask you this for _ages_," TenTen widened her eyes and gave an exaggerated wave of the hand for emphasis, "how does it feel like to see Kakashi topless?"

Her question drew mixed reaction from their group. Hinata giggled nervously, Ino smirked and Sakura gasped. TenTen herself had the audacity to look innocent – the cunning vixen.

How was she going to answer them? She bit her lip, wishing fervently that she could lie but knowing well that she would be caught at it by Ino. Should she answer? It was after all, TenTen who asked and not Ino. If it were the latter, she would have snarled a little and wave it off for another time.

Being so eager, they did not wait for her reply and instead took her silence as a sullen refusal.

"I don't see why you should be upset with her question," Ino began.

"It _is_ an innocent, curious _question_, you know," TenTen emphasized.

"Er, girls, maybe we shouldn't do this to Sakura-chan." Thank Kami-sama for Hinata.

"No way! Come on, Sakura, don't be such an ass."

"After all, we are your friends, aren't we?"

"Girls…"

"Look, don't want to share? Fine! Maybe you should think about why you don't want to."

"You're not seriously withholding that kind of information from us are you?"

"TenTen…"

"I guess she doesn't like to share anything about Kakashi-san at all."

"Maybe she just needs a little incentive?"

"What kind of incentive do you mean?"

"Say, Sakura, how about you tell us what we want to know and we'll tell you what we know… about your favorite man, Kakashi."

She stared at them, not once bothering to reply any of their remarks since they started. Although, the little information trade they were offering did sound rather attractive…

"Oh, forget it TenTen. It's obvious!"

"Now, just a little patience, Ino…"

"Patience? For what?"

"…"

"Okay, trade with me. You tell me and I'll tell you what we know. How about that?"

"You sure?"

"Of course."

"I was at the bath the other day, and all these other women – Kami knows where they came from, they looked like they wanted to start a stampede – anyway, I overheard a few choice rumors about that delicious Kakashi."

"Delicious? More like, I don't know, super? Anyway, what?"

"Yeah, and this civilian – I've never seen her around in our areas before, so definitely a civilian – starts rambling on how she wishes Kakashi wouldn't stop short of sleeping with her when he had the chance to."

"That's a rumor?"

"No, not yet, idiot. Anyway, her rambling turned to ranting, because her husband's _single_ sister, had apparently run into him _naked _– " they gasped, Sakura included, "and she couldn't help herself but flirt with him and he couldn't resist and they… you know. It was just a one night stand, and the lady was kind of smug when she told them that her sister-in-law went running for Kakashi - only to be turned down harshly."

Ino was laughing by the time she had finished her story, and was joined by Hinata. Sakura, on the other hand, was a little doubtful on the authenticity of the story, yet was also a little annoyed that Kakashi was less resistant to womanly charms than she thought.

"Anymore?" Ino asked.

"Nah, nothing."

"Kay, so it's my turn." Ino cleared her throat, while the rest waited eagerly.

"Anyway, I was just doing my shift at the flower shop, the other day and these group of … I don't know, they look filthy rich, and spoilt. Maybe scions or whatever. Anyway, I was just minding my own business until his name came up. Then they started raving about him being so _fantastically_ good looking and being unmasked during his recon missions - they were foreigners, from the look of them," she added, when she noticed their incredulous looks. "Anyway, they came to my shop to send flowers to our dearest elite Kakashi, so he could perhaps make the effort to meet up with them and maybe get _reacquainted_ with them. Yeah, right." She finished her story with a roll of the eyes.

"Reacquainted?" Hinata raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, anyway, sorry girls, not done yet. Anyway, a couple of days after that, I heard that they were turned down and flowers were redirected to our little cherry blossom here," she sneered in Sakura's direction, receiving a nervous chuckle from her.

"Oh, Kami! He did that?"

"Yea, ask her how she suddenly got the expensive flowers."

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Sakura frowned.

"I thought he would have explained to you one way or another anyway."

"You know, it's so hard to find shinobi men or other similar men who are available…" TenTen sighed dreamily.

"I know, and when they are available, it's like they pledged their hearts to Sakura or something."

"Erm, that's not true… besides, most of them are perverts, anyway," Sakura added with a little shrug, trying to defend herself.

"Doesn't stop you from being with Kakashi, does it?" Ino retorted.

She laughed, and gave a casual wave of the hand. "Just because he reads them doesn't make him a pervert," she replied.

Her attempt at Kakashi's defense only made them stare at her in disbelief. Even Hinata could not hide the cynical look. Perhaps it was her cue to leave them and find the only company she would be comfortable with – Kakashi. She got up, despite the smirks Ino and TenTen exchanged with each other, and walked slowly towards the bar where he sat, her eyes trained on her steps instead of looking forward.

Was there a reason why she had hesitated to share about Kakashi with them? Was it possible for her, as his platonic friend, to be jealous that the man had attractive female admirers that surpassed even she, domestic-wise? She felt uneasy pondering over such questions, but it seemed plausible for her to think it over. After all, she had avoided such line of thought for goodness knows how long, and she knew the ends of her sanity in his presence were fraying. One way or another, she would end up admitting to herself that she was, in fact, in love with him. To make things worse, he probably only saw her a close friend – maximum.

On the other end of the pub, the jounins were enjoying themselves immensely at the price of Kakashi's pride.

Genma wiped the single tear from his eye, as he tried to stop his laughter. "I can't believe you, man." He shook his head.

"Why?" A single, monotonous remark from the silver-haired man. He had been silent throughout Naruto's narrative, despite the insults and teasing thrown at him.

"You are so freaking smitten with her, and you didn't even tell the woman!"

He did not reply, knowing that it was pointless to humor Genma like that. Besides, he felt that it would be some sort of a sin if he lied and denied the man's statement. He sighed.

"Kakashi-san! You should deny it when it's not true!" Lee was adamant. "It is unjust to let such rumors thrive like that!"

"_If_ there's really nothing going on." Naruto sneered, and the other jounins laughed along.

"Anyway, guys, on the rare occasion I go to the women's bath instead of my own private bathroom," she rolled her eyes, "I get to hear an interesting story about your person of _interest_, Kakashi."

They fell silent, and waited for her to continue. Kakashi pretended to read his book, but his eye only rested its gaze on a single line.

"Well, I overheard Ino's group discussing about the sexiest bachelor shinobi they know," she snorted, "and whoever suggests the one everyone can't deny gets a free dinner."

She paused for a while to take a sip of her sake. "So it came to Sakura's turn, and she says, 'Kakashi' – " she chuckled at the naïveté of the girl; Kakashi choked on the sake he was sipping "and that's not all she said either, she said he would win hands down!"

"So, did she get a free dinner?" Naruto asked, a little envious that Sakura could have such an easy opportunity to have free dinner.

"Well, yeah, she did."

Now that she had mentioned it, Kakashi suddenly remembered the time when she had turned him down for dinner and opted instead to go with her friends. She had been a little nervous into informing him, a little apologetic, almost guilty and now that he put two and two together – somewhat embarrassed as well. He had chalked it down to the rejection, initially, but now knew it was not what it looked like.

"You know, if she likes him so much why can't she just say so?" Genma rolled his eyes. "I mean, it's not fair for her to have so many guys after her –" Anko raised an eyebrow at him and he waved it off, "and she doesn't come straight out to say that she's Kakashi's."

"Or maybe Kakashi-sensei should just stop keeping Sakura-chan to himself," Naruto suggested, trying to alleviate the mood.

"I do not keep her to myself, Naruto," he droned simply.

Naruto snorted. "That's a lie." He let out an exaggerated sigh. "She's single, but unavailable at the same time."

"Why?" Lee asked, not exactly following Naruto's line of thought.

"It's because she's pledged her heart to Kakashi, that's why!" Genma answered him, finishing with a derisive snort.

"This is baseless speculation," Kakashi began, "and she doesn't pledge her heart to anyone but her job and the village."

"Doesn't stop you from flaunting her devotion to you, does it?" Anko retorted.

He was annoyed by now, and snapped, "It's just friendship – plain and simple."

"You two are joined at the hips, it's hard not to see you two without the other around." Kurenai, unexpectedly, pointed out – earning a few other chuckles of agreement from their group.

Riled up, and annoyed that he could not defend himself when they teamed up against him like that, he made a move to leave his seat.

"Oi! Where are you going?" Genma yelled at him as he had made his way past the crowd.

He did not bother to turn around to answer, and instead walked to meet up with Sakura halfway as she seemed to head for him.

"Oh!" She rubbed the crown of her head as she looked up at the figure she had bumped into. She laughed when she saw that it was Kakashi – he certainly had good timing. "Kakashi!"

"Want to go somewhere else?" His eye crinkled. "You look like you need to get away."

She grinned, and immediately turned to the exit with him.

Their friends were annoyed, to say the least, that their mad (weak, actually) plan to get them together by pointing out the obvious to them did not work. The infuriating couple had instead opted to go for a walk instead – the brats.

As they headed for their usual training grounds, she started a mild, casual conversation to fill the silence and he reciprocated with a few interesting remarks in between. It was when they neared the training grounds that she decided to ask him about what she had heard from Ino and TenTen.

"Kakashi?"

"Hmm?"

"Is it true you've had a few one night stands before?"

"Very few and far in between."

"Oh. And…"

"Yes?"

"Remember those expensive flowers you sent me?"

"The one that made you check the sky to see if it was falling?" He answered with a chuckle.

She giggled. "Yeah, that. They were sent to you from young women from rich families, weren't they?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Ino said so."

"Ah, sharing, huh?"

"Kakashi."

"It would be a waste to throw it into the bin, wouldn't it?" Was his simple reply – if it served as a reply at all.

They sat down – he leaned against the tree trunk as she sat across from him.

"What?"

"What kind of a hard time did Genma give you this time?" She asked, a small smile on her lips.

"Oh, Anko told me something interesting."

"What?"

"That I am quite possibly the sexiest bachelor shinobi you know."

Color drained from her face quickly, though the blush crept up to cheeks just as fast. "She told you that?" She tried to keep her voice level.

"And also the fact that it is undeniable and I would definitely win hands down."

She buried her face in her hands, embarrassed to death. "Oh my god. I can't believe she told you that! Oh Kami-sama!"

He chuckled, enjoying the sight before him.

"I'm so, so, so, so, _so_ sorry!" She apologized.

"Me too, on a much lesser degree."

She laughed, and he chuckled.

"Why?" They asked each other at the same time.

Realizing what they had done, they laughed it off nervously. Neither was ready to admit that their hearts was palpitating funnily as they averted they gaze on the grass.

"I love you," the two of them whispered softly.

They both snapped out of their reverie immediately when reality sunk in just as fast, expressions of shock evident on both faces. It was an awkward moment, and they again laughed it off nervously as both looked away and kept the silence. Incoherent thoughts were racing through both minds, jumbled up and indecipherable to both in their current dazed state.

Sakura's gaze followed a stray leaf blown by the gentle breeze as it settled on his hair. She laughed at the sight oh Kakashi with the leaf in his hair and leaned in to withdraw it. His attention was now on her, and he stiffened when she took the leaf out of his hair gingerly. She laughed again, and showed him the leaf, twirling it with her thumb and index finger. He laughed nervously too, trying to lighten the potentially stressful moment. Their eyes met in a gaze, the same thought going through their minds: did he/she really meant what he/she said?

Kakashi noticed the thoughtful look on Sakura's face, and decided it was time he broke the silence.

"What are you thinking?"

She blushed, embarrassed at being caught staring at him but decided that he is, first and foremost, her friend and he would understand her in the end.

"Did you mean what you said just now, Kakashi?" She asked softly, her eyes watching his eye for any changes in expression.

He did not look away, and a mischievous twinkle shone in his eye as he leaned in.

She watched him, wide-eyed as he began to steadily narrow their gap and closed her eyes when he was too near. She felt his forehead pressed lightly against hers.

"What do you think?" He asked her, quietly and a little huskily.

A little indignant at what she thought was one of his misleading performances, she pursed her lips and tilted her chin upwards to reply him – only to find that her lips brushed against his masked ones and gasped. Her resolved crumbled as she felt the fabric between their lips being pulled down as he captured her lips with his own in a soft kiss. She lifted her arms to pull him closer by the neck as he pulled her closer by the waist.

"Let's train some more," she suggested, a sly smile playing on her lips as he leaned in to do as he was told.

* * *

A/N: WELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL. I'm back. Happy New Year everyone, and belated Merry Christmas! I somehow felt the urge to write a holiday fic, but was not obliged to so I didn't. Smart ass eh? Anyway, I want to thank all my reviewers!!!!!!!!! And readers!!!!!!!!!!!! for putting this story on alert + fav, and ME on alert (just like I asked... XP) anyway, again, before I end this story... if you're looking for more KakaSaku fluff such as this, please put me on alert. Seriously, I take my duty as a KakaSaku fangirl/writer seriously and promise to deliver you the best fluff I can offer... without you gagging, of course.

Okay, so... anyway, if anyone has suggestions or story ideas for KakaSaku, or maybe you found a really good writing challenge... feel free to PM me, or drop me a comment in my LJ (http://bones-angel7. or whatever. If you think you just want some more of this... and a good prompt challenge would do, just let me know. I think I can do another round... I think.

So, a few things I ask of you:  
- if you like my kind of KakaSaku - feel free to put me on alert. this story is ending at Chapter 20, so no more KakaSaku from this one.  
- give me suggestions or requests if you want... though if I'm too lazy I'll probably put it off. Heh. I'll definitely do it though.  
- review!


	20. A Wedding

**Chapter 20: A Wedding**

Haruno Yukika beamed as cheerfully as she could as she bowed and greeted the guests that came in. It was not really that difficult to be happy actually, what with the upbeat and boisterous atmosphere surrounding her that was incredibly infectious. Everyone who came in were absolutely delighted that they had made it to the jubilant celebration, and thanked her profusely for having invited them to join in. She merely waved off such show of appreciation with giggles and motioned for the other ushers to lead them to their seats.

She had been waiting for such a momentous occasion all her life. The day she would see her daughter marry off to a very respected man, who will provide for her and the family they will have. Well, since her daughter had chosen to live the life of a respectable shinobi she never thought she would ever see such a day whereby everyone would gather together, talk delightedly of the stars of the evening and she would know that her fate as a grandmo-

"Okaa-san," Sakura called out to her, snapping the older woman out of her reverie.

"Sakura!" She laughed, a hand covering her mouth as she cast her eyes slightly downwards in embarrassment.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "You were daydreaming again, weren't you?"

She recomposed herself. "Define daydreaming, dear."

Her daughter merely rolled her eyes. "Okaa-chan, this is _not_ my wedding." She put her hands on her hips. "How many times do I have to remind you?"

It was her mother's turn to roll her eyes. "Yes, yes, I know. You're not ready." She frowned slightly. "What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be helping Hatsumi to get ready?"

"She's done." She waved towards the crowd. "I'll just join my friends over there if you don't need me."

"Ah, friends," her mother's eyes lit up briefly – Sakura's suspicions were raised a notch – as she continued on her normal tone (though there was now a very mysterious smile on her face) "Of course, my dear, run along now. I can take care of matters here."

Knowing that she was likelier going to get information out of a mute than her mother when the older woman was in one of her moods, Sakura cast one questioning glance at her mother before walking off to find her friends.

At the same time, in a different area of the dining hall, a very familiar slouched figure with a famous orange book in one hand and another hand in the pocket walked to the table where he was to be seated. He had slipped past unnoticed by the overeager ushers amidst the throng of crowd who bustled in and out. He normally would not have attended such a wedding even when invited, but Sakura had managed to coax him into going.

It was Inoue Hatsumi's wedding (Sakura's mother's best friend's _daughter's_ wedding – he had absorbed that information rather giddily when Sakura rattled off) – and because they were a famous family with fortune and reputation, the shinobi counterpart of the hidden village was invited as they had engaged shinobi assistance in business matters in previous occasions. No doubt that they had also made a very generous contribution to the Fifth Hokage as well, considering that they were the largest and the best sake manufacturers in the country.

He snorted.

Probably that was the main reason why Tsunade had given him the proverbial kick in the ass into attending the celebration – although he had already half the mind to go, thanks to Sakura's methods of persuasion. He grinned widely at the thought, remembering the promises she was going to shower him with after attending the wedding reception. All was good on cloud number nine so far – for Kakashi.

He gave the huge hall a brief scan, his hearing catching bits and pieces of conversations from the other guests who had nothing better to do than to gossip. He shrugged inwardly, not bothering at all to contribute to the various mindless conversations regarding such trivial matters such as the so-and-so's wedding was better, why on earth did they cater from the wrong caterer, referrals to better erhu player, and the likes. His book was a much better company than the likes of them.

Unfortunately, in another corner however, another person certainly had not the privilege of the book that he did. In fact, she did not have the time to wistfully wish for a better companion as she fended off the aggressive interrogation by her group of friends.

"Oh geez, Sakura, it's only a question!" Ino grumbled; a little annoyed that her last question was brushed off rather vehemently.

"Ino, it's not just _a_ question." Sakura rolled her eyes. "It's a barrage of meaningless, pointless assumptions you came up with when you had nothing better to do."

Her blonde friend scrunched up her nose and pursed her lips as Sakura turned her gaze to stare at the crowd. Really, why on earth was Sakura avoiding the topic? Normally she would have entertained them with the first few questions or at least answer some when they did not prove to be a double-edged sword that could be used against her some day. But today, of all the days, she had given them no leeway whatsoever and brushed them off with little gentleness. She certainly could not blame Ino or TenTen for being a little suspicious about her. The funny thing was, all this while they had never actually asked Sakura directly whether she had any feelings for Kakashi. It was only referred to on all the occasions that it was brought up, but never, never ever put forth as a direct question. Well, perhaps it was time to go all out and done with it.

"Sakura," she began.

Sakura gave her a wary glance as TenTen sighed – she ignored both their reactions.

"Sakura, do you have any feelings for Kakashi?"

Sakura looked at her blankly, stunned to silence as she could not think of a way to throw the question aside. Ino sounded so innocent, so … weary that she was inclined to think that this could well be the last question Ino would ask her regarding the topic. For today, at least. That gave her at least some motivation to answer the question. At least she would have some peace of mind and be rid of pestering about the man.

"I'm comfortable with him – he's a very understanding friend," she replied slowly, gauging Ino's reaction, "and he's an exceptional partner during missions." Ino and TenTen narrowed their eyes at her.

"I wouldn't trade him for the world," she added hastily, with a beaming smile for good measure.

"Most likely because he sleeps topless," TenTen sneered.

Sakura could not stop the blush creeping up her cheeks and shook her head in denial. "No, he doesn't do that!"

Ino on the other hand was still skeptical, but conceded and accepted the answer anyway. She noticed the deliberate slowness on Sakura's behalf and wondered slightly just how was her friend going to break the wall of denial. Really, the woman was no less stubborn when it came to the matters of the heart. Just as Temari appeared by her side, Ino was just about to greet her when she saw the Hokage beckoning to her. With a brief nod to the Sand official and a slight wave to her friends, she went off to see what Tsunade needed her for.

The pink-haired woman, now very relieved that she was left by her friend, could not help but let a huge sigh of contentment escape her. Her other two companions gave her a knowing look, but quickly changed it to neutral expressions before she noticed.

"What brings you here, Temari-san?" TenTen asked.

"Invited for the festivities," Temari answered casually. "We only want to strengthen our diplomatic ties with Konoha."

"As well as promote your services, I suppose," Sakura added with a sly smile.

Temari grinned. "Well, that is inevitable, of course." She waggled her eyebrows as she posed the seemingly innocent question, "How's your partnership with Kakashi going?"

TenTen laughed out loud, her mind already interpreting the question in various ways. The older woman was certainly known for her euphemisms nowadays, since she became the ambassador to Konoha. It would not sit well with either village's elder council to have an ambassador who was brash and too straightforward.

Sakura was quite apprehensive, to say the least. She knew Temari meant something more than just the question, but chose to ignore the possible meanings.

"It's very amiable and conducive," she replied with a small smile, knowing that Kakashi was going to have a good laugh later on when she would tell him, "he's a very good mentor."

Instead of replying, Temari smirked and gave her a knowing smile. TenTen only laughed harder.

Knowing just what they were thinking – and it was far from innocent – Sakura could not help herself and blushed. It was the right moment for her to make her move – on the basis that her stomach growling, which was true. She would have to regain her composure soon, before she made a fool out of herself.

As for the said man and also known as the recent cause of embarrassment to Sakura, he too had been joined by his friends – although he was off on a better start than she did. Kakashi found himself more relaxed, though he still kept his guard up just in case, as he need not field off questions about Sakura whatsoever. Not that he did not like her or any of that, but he just did not want to play the situation way too cool to raise their suspicions. They were prone to arriving at preposterous conclusions. It was a much a better situation now – they were all having a good time catching up gossip with each other and telling crazy funny stories that made even Kakashi listen and smile to himself.

His fortunate streak lasted only until they were joined by two other respected shinobi – the two of three Legendary Sannin. The moment he saw them approaching he had already resumed his attention to his book, knowing that he was going to be an open target if he looked like he was enjoying himself (remotely). Then again, since when had they left him alone when they had discovered the festering gossip regarding Sakura and himself? He knew the answer to that – never with a capital N. He was getting the dig whether or not he paid any attention to them.

"Ah. Kakashi!" Jiraiya sounded almost too gleeful.

Kakashi suppressed a sigh of contempt. The man was after all, his utmost favorite author – without him, there would not be the book (and its predecessors and follow-ups) that he was reading at the moment. He had better show some respect – at least some acknowledgement. He grunted in response.

"Well, my man! Do I have just the best proposition for you!"

"Oh?"

"You and Sakura can be my latest muses and inspiration as well as models for my next upcoming Icha Icha Shinobi!"

_Thud_.

The book dropped out of his hand limply. Too shocked to say a word. Lips parched, throat unable to produce the slightest sound. Even Kakashi was caught very off-guard, if the bookless hand was any indicator. His fellow colleagues who heard the outburst stopped their chatter. Their eyes settled a wary stare on him, anticipating some sort of violent retaliation.

"Kakashi?" He peered at the younger man. He had expected some further suggestions from the Copy Nin, not _this_.

"I don't think that's possible, Jiraiya." They had to commend him – his composure was well kept.

"Why not?"

"Sakura would be furious."

"Oh, come on, she'll love it!"

"And why is that?"

"Look," his expression turned very serious, as though explaining a war strategy to an army, "you have all the perks you could possibly want."

"And they are?" His tone just turned a shade cooler.

"Kinky scenes getting reenacted… hey, the whole idea's kinky and it'll improve your sex lives with each other!"

The onlookers cringed.

"You mean it is actually possible to improve a nonexistent sex life?"

"What do you mean nonexistent?"

"I don't beat around the bush."

Silence grew between them.

"You're not seeing each other?" He asked quietly, trying to keep the tremor in his voice to a bare minimum.

"No."

"Oh." He suppressed a gulp.

"Hmm."

That was his cue to start laughing nervously as he retreated slowly to disappear within the crowd. Crossing a line with Kakashi was equivalent to invoking Tsunade's anger. Both of which made him a pretty lucked out loser. He had better get started on the novel soon, to pacify the unknown amount of anger Kakashi must be feeling at the moment.

Kakashi let the older man on his way, deciding that the awkward confrontation was not a major embarrassment to him as it had been for Jiraiya. His hand made a motion to pick up the book he had dropped – but another hand beat him to it. He looked up the slender arm, vexed that he was being kept from his reading.

"Kakashi." The harsh voice was all too familiar.

He sighed audibly.

"I'm glad that you rejected him on that offer."

His fingers gripped the spine of the book.

"It's good that you thought of Sakura."

He tried to pull, she kept it where it was with a finger. He looked up at her. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Yes?"

"I'm talking to you, Kakashi."

"I know."

"It'll save you from my wrath if you'd listen."

"I am."

"Good."

"Thank you."

She frowned at him.

"Kakashi…" Her voice dropped into a menacing whisper. "If you cross the line," she paused for some effect – none at all coming from him, "I will make sure you learn your lesson thoroughly."

She released the book and straightened up. He quickly pulled the book toward himself.

"Then again," now her voice sounded smug – he resisted the urge to roll his visible eye, "even if you did cross the line, Sakura wouldn't have you harmed anyways."

He kept his tongue from uttering some witty remark at her. He had a higher chance of receiving measly D-class missions because of this… _powerful_ woman. He had better watch his words.

"Well, it takes two to tango," Genma commented lightly.

Tsunade turned to him.

"What do you mean?"

"They're hardly together nowadays," Naruto piped up.

"Busy maybe?" Genma suggested.

"I think not," Naruto replied conspiratorially.

"Why not?" Genma was grinning now.

"They could have had a fight."

"Trouble in paradise?"

"Ya think?"

"Possible." They turned to look at Kakashi, who arched an eyebrow. "Don't you have anything to say?"

"We are on good terms."

"Are you really?" Tsunade asked him, her interest piqued.

"I don't think so," Genma quipped, just as Naruto slipped away.

"I was busy."

"No, you're not."

"She is."

"She's not," Tsunade replied him. "What-"

"Naruto! What are you doing?" They turned their eyes to the pink-haired speaker. She was trying to pry Naruto's firm grip off her upper arm.

"Sakura!" Genma called to her.

She turned to him, now distracted from her predicament. "What?"

"So good of you to come, we were just talking about you."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "So?"

"Spill it," Naruto demanded cryptically, his hand still on her arm though the grip had slackened.

"Spill what?" There was an edgy tone in her voice now.

"Tell us the truth."

She frowned, making an effort to look calm. Her heart was palpitating faster though. What truth? Did they -? Oh. NO. Kami, no!

Genma noticed the disturbed look on her face, though she made an effort to have it frowning or glowering. She certainly had something to hide from them.

"We know what you're hiding," he lied.

"What?" She snapped.

"You lied to Kakashi, too, right?"

Her eyes widened and she looked at Kakashi, who shrugged nonchalantly at her. She turned back to the jounin.

"No, of course not!"

"He says you've been busy lately, so what have you been doing?"

"I was running around healing people!" She replied vehemently. She did not like where the line of questioning was heading, and the sudden interest in her activities was puzzling to her.

"Yeah, right. The Hokage said you're not."

She averted her gaze to the floor, not quite sure how reply him after that. The hand on her arm was now gone, and she decided it was best to leave the company. Without another word or glance to anybody else, she stalked off to the other table.

As for her interrogators, they seemed rather satisfied (although a little guilty) that they had managed to gain some sort of reaction from her as opposed to none when they had gone to Kakashi instead. Genma sneered; Naruto smirked as they watch her avoid looking their way. As for the others, they had resumed to talking about other matters instead – with the exception of Tsunade and Kakashi of course.

"Hello, everybody!"

Their attention shifted to the man on stage.

"I am Hideki," he paused, and the crowd laughed when they realized it was a play on his name. "Your emcee for the night." He looked around the room, taking note the various guests still not seated.

"Ah, we have our respected shinobi here, I see!" He motioned to the group.

"Let's give them our appreciation for the work they've done for us!" He clapped and the civilians followed suit, with some yelling encouraging words and some giving entertaining catcalls.

Naruto was seen snickering and grinning at the attention they received, until he received a slap on the back by Genma. He glared at the older man, who now basked in the adulation, and was amply ignored.

"So, our shinobi, I suppose you're probably too used to standing up and not sitting down during occasions like this," Hideki grinned, "So I'd like to invite you to take your seats, please."

Seeing as the clapping had stopped, the group quickly made their ways to their respective tables. It was not long until Sakura found herself sitting with the annoying ones – Naruto, Ino and Genma – but found comfort when Kakashi took a seat beside her.

Hideki watched them as they took their seats, his eyes flitting from one small group to the other until they caught sight of a flash of pink hair. His gaze rested on the attractive woman with pink-hair, and did nothing to hide the grin now spreading slowly on his face. Hatsumi had given him emphasized instructions to at least show some attention to Sakura and her partner, though he did not know the exact reason why. She had mentioned something about getting her to come out of her shell. He would not have any problems with that.

"Wow! We have Haruno Sakura-san here!" His gaze wandered slightly to the man next to her. "And Hatake Kakashi-san, as well!"

He turned back to the civilian crowd – most of them were at a lost on his enthusiasm.

"People, these two outstanding individuals are also one of the most outstanding Konoha shinobi!" He stepped down from the stage, and walked towards their table.

Sakura blushed and looked at the tablecloth instead. Kakashi shrugged when he caught Naruto and Genma's glares.

"Kakashi Sharingan – the elite jounin of Konoha," he introduced to the crowd as he rested a hand on Kakashi's slouched shoulder, "and this lovely lady here," he winked at Sakura when she turned around to see him – she blushed, whereas Ino and the rest around their table were apprehensive about it (they were already expecting Kakashi to throw a punch for that wink) "is Sakura, the reverent Godaime's apprentice!"

The crowd, which had murmured in delight at seeing Kakashi in the first place, now hushed. They had heard much of the Godaime's apprentice – that she too inherited the medical brilliance her mentor possessed, as well as included some of her own abilities – and some had only this opportunity to see her for the first time. At the same time, Tsunade smirked smugly and Shizune, who was seated beside her, sighed – her mentor's ego has just soared to new heights.

"It is no wonder that they make such a fantastic couple!"

The clueless Hideki was probably stacking up the punches he was about to get from the two said jounins – the same thought going through other shinobi's minds. Then again, that situation looked highly unlikely as they all had their eyes on Sakura – who was blushing madly and staring hard at the tabletop – and Kakashi seemed very relaxed as he laughed it off.

"Your legacy," he looked meaningfully at the both of them – Ino shut her eyes so she would not see him flying across the room, "will be one of excellence. Genius minds and excellent chakra control – two of the most important traits a shinobi must have." He turned back to the crowd. "And their children will have it." He paused. "Simply amazing."

By now, the rest of the ninjas were already preparing their condolences to him, knowing for sure that neither Kakashi nor Sakura liked their partnership (whatever its nature may be) to be under the public eye. At the slightest hint that such an event would occur, they would retaliate heavily (Naruto and Genma could attest to that). The man was suicidal and clueless, at the very least.

"So, what's it going to be?" He looked round at Kakashi and Sakura. They merely raised an eyebrow, both now wary of the man's next move. "When are you getting married?"

There was total silence now as they awaited an answer. Those who knew Kakashi well enough were wondering just how would he weasel his way out of this question. He was under public – civilian – scrutiny now, and not in the company of his own friends. He would not be able to punch the man like he would do to Genma or Naruto. Ino found herself praying hard that they would not kill Hideki. Not now.

Kakashi smiled – underneath the mask – and his visible eye crinkled. Genma shuddered, knowing just how eerie that smile can be. The man had probably turned the cogwheels in his mind to find various ways to kill Hideki.

"Soon," Kakashi replied.

Naruto's jaw dropped open. Ino let out an unlady-like snort. Genma dropped the glass water on the ground, just as he was about to take a sip. Tsunade's breath hitched. Jiraiya now had a huge ugly line on his manuscript as he stared at the couple. Hinata blushed; TenTen and Temari smirked. Yamato had a small smile on his face. Sasuke and Sai were unexpressive as always, but had an arched eyebrow on their faces.

Sakura looked up solemnly at Kakashi; the others held their breaths. She frowned slightly; Hideki found his voice stuck in his throat and looked away – a shinobi about to be rejected was not a sight to watch. Ino gripped the edge of the table, her knuckles turning white. Sakura's parents whispered in hushed tones to make plans to make up for their daughter's mistake.

Sakura just stared into his eye, her frown deepening. Kakashi tensed up, his mind now reeling. Had he just committed a fatal mistake?

"I don't care –" She began, and Kakashi had looked away. She made him turn back to her gently, with her finger on his chin. He stared at the space above her head; she settled for that.

"I don't care," she began again, "if you're a miserable miser," her tone was hard; his gaze wandered briefly to her then returned to stare at the wall, "I want the best tailor-made kimono."

He could not help but look at her, the shock evident in his visible eye.

She beamed at him and waggled her eyebrows.

"Okay?"

The onlookers were still shocked from her reaction, but more relieved than before. Sakura's parents rolled their eyes heavenwards as they let out huge sighs of relief. Ino and the rest of their friends could only managed a tired smile on their faces, but it was not long before they exchange furious looks at each other – the couple had outwitted them this time!

Kakashi, on the other hand, did not reply but with a quick swoop, brought Sakura closer to him and kissed her through his mask.

As they pulled away, he smiled and nodded.

"Yes, Sakura-hime."

Boy, was he whipped.

* * *

To my lovely **_readers and reviewers_**... Thanks so much for bearing with me. I apologize that this last chapter had come way too long after the last one before. I've been having family problems, to say the least, as well as some friendship clashes so I couldn't very well write a fluffy fic with a horrid disposition. I'm so sorry, I really wish that I could've produced this during my time of trouble - but, it turned out like crap so I had to put it off.

So, after that lengthy speech, I am **very, very grateful** to all of you that **reviewed** during the course of the writing, as well as those that put me on **alert**, this **baby on alert** and **us on favlist**. _Thank you so much for your support_.

So, as a way to show my thanks, I will be releasing _another multi-chapter fluff_ fic of KakaSaku after my timeout (**starting Feb 2 until Feb 9**) that will be another serious project. As of now, I will be writing mostly _one-shots_ and drafting another different _multi-chapter AU_ fic of KakaSaku. Three different things to look out for, and after this story... I think I definitely have a lot on my shoulders. I'm so sorry, but I will deliver on my promises. With that, please put me on alert if you haven't - and if you like the KakaSaku that I wrote.

I'm so sad that this ended... but I'm on the lookout for more fluff ideas... Please review, I'd really like to know what you think of this story here.


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